The Joys of Herbology
by ShagsTheDustmop
Summary: COMPLETE! A very ordinary Hufflepuff girl becomes a pawn in the power play between Snape and Sirius during their 4th year at Hogwarts. Oh what a tangled web...
1. Chapter 1

Professor Samling looked expectantly at his 4th year herbology class, waiting for them to settle down. A pair of giggly HufflePuff girls were whispering to each other in the back and eying a particularly unkempt Slytherin boy across the room. A gaggle of Slytherin males were similarly occupied flicking azuranth seeds at a bespectacled HufflePuff girl, who had her nose in a book and was attempting valiantly to ignore them.  
  
"Now then, if I might begin?" the Professor queried with eyebrows raised. His students reluctantly switched their attention to the front of the room. "That's better. I require your full attention today because I'm going to give you all the details for your term project." Students started eying each other in confusion.  
  
"But sir," protested a blonde Slytherin boy, "there is no term project in Herbology, and never has been."  
  
"There is now, Mr. Malfoy. This is a new idea I've had but I expect that it will have spectacular results." Several of the students groaned audibly. "None of that, please. You should be pleased about this little change because the term project will replace the weekly essays I formerly assigned to my class." This knowledge seemed to improve the classes' mood somewhat.  
  
"Now, on to the details. The assignment will be due the last class period before the Christmas holiday. No late projects will be accepted so please do not procrastinate. There will be a written component and a practical component, which shall be equally scored. This project will total half of your grade for the term so please treat it accordingly. You will be working in pairs, each pair will have a different species to work with and a different goal to accomplish for that species. I will be assigning these once the pairs are formed." Several students looked to the student next to them, silently pairing up with their friends.  
  
"Oh yes, I almost forgot to mention the most important thing. You will be permitted to choose your partner, however." the Professor paused for emphasis, " you cannot partner with someone from your own House." The ambient noise increased as the students absorbed this blow and made as if to protest.  
  
"My mind is made up. For thirty seven years I have taught here and this pointless bickering between the Houses has become progressively worse each year. What used to be healthy competition has become spiteful malignance and I for one am beginning to tire of it. Thus, by the time you return to class Monday I expect each of you to be partnered with a member of the other House, or I will assign the pairs myself AND take ten points from each of your Houses for each person unpaired. Class dismissed."  
  
Severus Snape began gathering his books accompanied by a feeling of dread. How on Earth would he find a partner for this farce of a class project? Most of the students in his OWN house scorned him, let alone those foppish happy-go-lucky HufflePuffs. He'd best wait til Monday, let Slytherin be docked ten points and be done with it. He wasn't bad in Herbology, so he could more than compensate for whatever dunce Professor Samling saw fit to torment him with. He stood, tossed his pack over one shoulder and headed for the door. He had Potions class next, that would distract him from this unpleasant turn of events. "Severus." Snape heard a girl call out from behind him. He turned to face a tall HufflePuff girl with long, curly brown hair. Mariah something or other. She'd never spoken to him before, and he knew little about her except that she was generally well liked (except by Slytherins of course) and that she was one of the smarter HufflePuffs, if that could ever be said of a HufflePuff. Her fellow Housemates often teased her about her grades, saying that maybe she should have been in Ravenclaw, but she insisted that she really was only good at a couple subjects and wasn't really all that smart. In any case, he was at a loss as to why she would wish to speak with him.  
  
"Yes?" he asked suspiciously.  
  
"Would you be my partner for the Herbology project?" She looked up at him expectantly, as if this were an everyday request.  
  
He stared back at her, too shocked to answer. "Why not," he thought, "At least I'll be spared the humiliation of having Samling force some imbecile of a partner on me." He nodded affirmatively, and then turned to leave. He took a few steps, but then, alas, curiosity got the better of him. He stopped and looked back at Mariah, who was still standing there watching him.  
  
"Why me?" he asked.  
  
"You're the best at Potions, I'm the best at Herbology," she reasoned. "Since chances are we'll need some potions for whatever task Samling's cooked up, we shouldn't have any trouble making an 'Outstanding', should we?" Snape just stared at her. "Well, we should get going if we're not going to be late for Potions. Shall we go?" Mariah moved toward the door, then turned back as if waiting for him to join her.  
  
This is too bizarre, Snape thought, but followed her out of the classroom. The two headed toward the dungeons silently for a few moments but then Mariah spoke again, "So what do you think old Samling might have us do? Maybe we'll get to design a new hybrid species. or devise an antidote for purple hemlock poisoning or something neat like that." Mariah continued hypothesizing and looking at Snape for confirmation, but never waiting for him to respond. Which was probably a good thing because Snape was becoming more and more uncomfortable.what a chatterbox this girl is, he thought. How will I put up with her for an entire term? He stopped walking suddenly. Mariah took a few more steps, still chattering, until she realized she was no longer being accompanied. She looked back at Snape inquisitively, then walked back to him. "What's wrong?" she asked.  
  
"Look, HufflePuff. I have no idea what the project will be nor do I wish to waste time hypothesizing. If we're going to work together then you should know that I really have no use for idle chit-chat. We'll find out what we have to do on Monday, and at that point we can formulate a strategy for completing the project as quickly as possible, and with as little interaction as we can manage. Understand?"  
  
Mariah pursed her lips and glared back at him. "Perfectly. And if we're going to work together YOU need to understand something as well. I have a name. It's Mariah. Mariah Grougher. Not girl, not HufflePuff, nor anything else your Slytherin mind might come up with. Use it." Mariah took a deep breath. "Now I'm going to class. You can join me or not." She stormed off, curls bouncing behind her.  
  
At least she's got some spunk, Severus thought with grudging respect as he followed behind her. It could be worse.  
  
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The weekend progressed without serious incident, only a minor altercation in the hall with his arch-nemesis, Sirius Black, interfered with his self- imposed solitude. But seeing as Snape came out the victor in that little exchange (and Black came out with three eyes) all in all it was a pleasant weekend. He saw Mariah at each meal of course, from across the great hall. She made no move to speak to him, nor even look at him, so he was spared any teasing from his House brethren. Nothing good ever came from associating outside of class with other Houses. Still, a part of him was surprised that she did not so much as glance his direction. It would have been such a HufflePuff thing to do, after all.  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
Monday finally came, and Snape's morning classes were mundane as always. Divination in particular was a total waste of time. Professor Rodinsky was as usual predicting all sort of havoc for her students, and as usual convinced Snape of none of it. After class as he was leaving she approached him and requested a quick word.  
  
"Yes, Professor?" Snape didn't even try to conceal his annoyance at being detained.  
  
Professor Rodinsky gazed intensely at Snape, almost as if she were focusing deep inside him. "Do not leave until the end. Otherwise you will suffer great pain." The Professor paused, still staring at Snape, then continued, "That is all, you may leave now." She went back to her desk and began straightening papers.  
  
What a fraud, Snape thought as he left the room and headed for Herbology. 


	2. Chapter 2

Predictably, Snape was the last student to arrive at the greenhouse. As he surveyed the room he noted two empty seats: one next to a HufflePuff boy whose name he did not recall and one next to Mariah. She was turned around in her seat, facing the door as if looking for him. Snape avoided her eyes and took the other empty seat. He just loved being perverse.  
  
Professor Samling arrived, a bundle of excitement, with a small box in his hands. He pranced up to the podium and set the box down. "Good Morning! I trust you all had a pleasant weekend and are excited to discover what you'll be spending your time on for the next several months."  
  
The respondent groans informed him they were nothing of the sort.  
  
Not to be deterred, the Professor shook his head, "Tut-tut, we'll have none of that. It's time to partner up. Your current seating arrangements indicate that most of you are NOT sitting with your partners. Slytherins, stand up please!"  
  
Half the class half-heartedly rose, their bored expressions gazing forth.  
  
"Go stand next to your partner. If you do not yet have a partner, come to the front of the room."  
  
The students started moving about. Snape reluctantly walked over to stand behind Mariah's chair, then turned to the front. He gasped aloud, for every single Slytherin other than himself was standing at the front of the room!  
  
Bloody shite, Severus thought as he felt his face redden uncontrollably. So much for being spared the humiliation of being partnered by the Professor: I'll NEVER hear the end of this!  
  
Already many of the students were giggling and whispering about the unlikely pair that had taken the initiative to partner up. Even Professor Samling wore a sizeable grin.  
  
"Well now, I see we have but one lone HufflePuff and one sole Slytherin willing to associate with each other, even with the threat of lost points. Miss Grougher, ten points to HufflePuff. Mister Snape, ten points to Slytherin."  
  
Samling retrieved his box and walked over to Mariah and Severus. "Additionally, I will let the two of you choose your project now and leave class early to discuss it. The rest of you lot will remain here to be partnered. And I PROMISE you will not approve of my selections. You will soon wish you had followed Miss Grougher and Mister Snape's example."  
  
He held the box out in front of Mariah. The box was covered, however the lid had an opening large enough for a small hand. Mariah reached into the box and pulled out a scroll.  
  
Professor Samling smiled, "I trust you chose a good project, I expect great things from the two of you. You're both dismissed." He returned to the front of the room, box in hand. "Now as to the rest of you lot."  
  
Mariah looked at Severus apologetically and received a glare for her trouble. Snape turned on his heels and stormed out. Mariah chased after him, however Snape's longer legs and determined stride made it difficult for her to keep up. She was forced to break into a run to catch him.  
  
"Severus! Don't you want to see what our project is?" she panted as she struggled to match his pace.  
  
"NO!" He snarled without looking at her, still trying to outrun her. "Just leave me alone!"  
  
Mariah stopped running and called out after him, "We'll have to discuss it sometime."  
  
But Snape was not thinking about sometime, he was thinking that right now the last thing he wanted was to be anywhere near that girl. He navigated the hallways and headed straight for the Slytherin dormitories.  
  
He already foresaw what would happen. His lack of foresight in volunteering to pair with that HufflePuff would result in countless rumors, most of which involving a romantic involvement between the two of them. Why had he been so foolish? He'd avoided losing House points but knew he'd insured a worse fate. "Festering abscess," he snapped as he reached the painting guarding the Slytherin Common Room. The door opened and he rushed inside, past a group of bewildered first years playing exploding snap, and up the stairs to his room.  
  
Snape began pacing the room with clenched fists, then grabbed the pillow off his bed so he'd have something to beat on. He was wrestling with the knowledge that he had no choice but to associate with her for the next few months in order to insure a satisfactory herbology grade, but now every meeting they had would be a suspected tryst. He strove to devise a scenario that would allow him to avoid this disastrous consequence but nothing came to mind.  
  
After several minutes of these mental gymnastics he threw himself down on the bed in exhaustion. There was nothing else to do except be as utterly nasty to the girl as possible. If he treated her abominably, people would eventually realize that there was nothing going on. This wouldn't be difficult at all, since Snape rarely had difficulty being nasty to people. It was her own damned fault, after all, for asking him to work with her in the first place.  
  
Snape fell asleep, knowing he'd found the answer.  
  
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Snape woke with a start as he realized that the objects hitting his head were not the hailstones of his dream but his roommate's wadded-up socks.  
  
"Dinner time, Snape. you don't want to miss seeing your new girlfriend, now do you?" Xavier Winslow was a pock-faced blond boy with bad teeth and a worse attitude. His cruel disposition was only outmatched by his complete inability to create an individual opinion. Snape knew that Winslow must be recycling comments made by other Slytherins after today's Herbology class, since he was incapable of generating his own.  
  
"Too right, Winslow. I have plans for that one." Snape responded enigmatically. That ought to keep him busy for at least ten minutes, he thought as he left the room.  
  
As expected jeers and smirks met him as he passed through the Common Room and through the castle corridors. Each Slytherin he encountered took notice of his usually unnotable presence, and produced either a wink or a jibe. He met these with a knowing grin and continued walking.  
  
Curiously, the reaction seemed limited to the Slytherin population. None of the HufflePuffs he encountered made any attempt to interact with him, and certainly the Ravenclaws paid him no mind. He entered the Great Hall and beelined for his usual spot at the far end of the Slytherin table, exhibiting no response to the cat-calls and shouts of "Snape the Slytherin Stud" that followed him. Once seated though, he realized he'd made a tactical error: his seat faced the center of the Great Hall, towards the other House tables, rather than towards the wall. So he found himself facing Mariah and her friends at the next table, and behind them, his nemesis Sirius Black and his entourage.  
  
Black, who had one fewer eye than the last time Snape had seen him, was observing Snape with interest, having heard Snape being referred to in a rather unusual manner. He noticed Snape's eyes resting on Mariah, then raising to meet his own. Black's mouth broke into a sinister grin, which silently shouted, "Oh yes, I have you now!"  
  
Snape returned his gaze defiantly and then turned his attention to his meal. He carefully kept his eyes on his plate, or firmly on members of his own House (who mercifully were now discussing the upcoming Quidditch match against Ravenclaw rather than his peccadillos). He ate rather more quickly than was his normal habit (although he rarely ate much as it were) and rose to leave.  
  
Oh horror of horrors, he thought. Mariah stood right after he did and headed right for him. Was she completely daft, or was she doing this for fun? He saw no viable way to avoid her, since fleeing would not help his reputation any, so he stared her down as she approached.  
  
"Severus! Thank heavens you've finally finished your dinner. You won't believe what our project is! I'd hoped for something interesting but this far exceeds my expectations! Come with me to the library so I can show you- "  
  
Snape cut her off, sneering loudly to ensure he was overheard by most of his House. "I told you, HufflePuff, that I would summon you when I required your presence. As I recall, I have not yet done so. Good evening." With that, he pushed past her and left the room.  
  
Mariah stared after him, agog and agape. Then she burst out laughing, almost uncontrollably. Several of her friends came over, her roommate Julia put an arm around her shoulder as if to comfort her, but she shrugged them off and just continued laughing as she too left the hall. "As I recall, I have not yet summoned you.how hilarious." The scene amused her all the way back to her dormitory.  
  
She returned to her room just in time to see an owl drop a note on her bed and flee out the window. Mariah sat on the corner of her bed, unfolded the note, and began to read.  
  
"Ms. Grougher,  
  
If we are to avoid further histrionics then you will need to learn some discretion. Although in HufflePuff it may be commonplace to say anything anywhere, that is not the case in Slytherin and for obvious reasons it would be best were we to interact away from the public eye for the time being. I acknowledge the need to discuss the herbology project about which you appear to possess unlimited enthusiasm, therefore I will meet you tomorrow a half hour before breakfast outside the greenhouse.  
  
S. Snape  
  
P.S. Do not accost me during meals again."  
  
He never ceases to amaze me, thought Mariah. What a self-righteous git. He obviously doesn't realize that meeting in the open will cause the speculation to die down quicker, but I'll play the game his way for now. I can't wait til someone discovers one of his little "clandestine" meetings though. 


	3. Chapter 3

Snape always awoke before dawn and this morning was no exception. He dressed as quietly as he could to avoid waking Winslow and crept out of the room. The common room was deserted as was usual this time of morning so Snape was able to leave without incident.  
  
Keeping a close eye out for others, Snape snuck out of the castle and down the path to the greenhouse. He was mostly there when he heard voices not far away. Snape leapt behind a nearby rosebush and waited. Mr. Filch and his monster of a cat passed by, mumbling about how Hogwarts would be such a better place if not for all those messy students. When they were gone, Snape peeked around the bush and continued his trek to the greenhouse.  
  
The door was ajar when he arrived, and once inside he found Mariah already there, perched on a stool, surrounded by a map, a scroll, and a stack of books. She looked up and smiled when he approached.  
  
"Good morning, Severus! How lucky you came early, because we'll have LOTS of planning to do." She began unraveling the scroll, "Our project will be SO much fun!"  
  
Snape moved beside her stool to look over her shoulder at what this famous project would actually entail. He began reading aloud.  
  
"Fourth Year Term Herbology Project Mr. S. Snape and Ms. M. Grougher Due in class on 18 December"  
  
"I think the Professor enchanted the scrolls to bind to whoever selected them, " hypothesized Mariah, " to keep people from swapping projects."  
  
He continued reading.  
  
"Beyond the Quidditch fields south of the Castle lies a valley in which many magical plant species have grown for millennia. One such species, the Graminis Socialis, it actually not native to the region but since its transplant nearly two hundred years ago has adapted itself to live in harmony with the other plant and animal species that reside there. Until recently, Graminis Socialis has thrived here. Now however, its flowers are blue and wilted, and its leaves turn yellow.  
  
Ms. Grougher and Mr. Snape, it is your task to heal the ailing Graminis Socialis and help it flourish again. You may use any magical or non- magical means to do so. If you require research materials that cannot be found on campus, please speak with myself or Madame Pince as necessary."  
  
"How charming," drawled Snape, seeing that Mariah awaited his reaction to their assignment. "We get to play nursemaid to a bunch of weeds." Privately, he thought it sounded interesting because probably would require substantial potion work, but it would not do to express such sentiments in present company.  
  
Mariah raised her eyebrows at this comment, "If that's the way you view it, I can procure one of Madame Altrix's aprons for you, then you'll be right in costume."  
  
Snape couldn't help but snicker at this, but then followed up with a glare so that Mariah would know she was skating on thin ice, so to speak. This triggered nothing less than another laughing spell from the dratted HufflePuff; heavens, did she find EVERYTHING funny?  
  
"Oh come now, Severus, it was funny and you know it."  
  
"Never mind that, let's just get back to the assignment so we can get to breakfast on time." Not that Snape ever ate breakfast, but she probably didn't know that. "The problem is threefold: we must learn everything we can about " he looked back at the scroll " Graminis Socialis, determine what is wrong, and then brew a potion to cure it."  
  
"Of course, " said Mariah, who was flipping through the pages of the topmost book in her pile, " I've gotten a few books from the library that should help us with at least that first item. Here in Grasmeister's Magical Fruits and Herbs I found a picture and a good general description of it. When we go out to the field we should have no trouble recognizing it, it will look just like this." Mariah pointed to a picture of a flowering plant with bright fuschia flowers and velvety foliage.  
  
"Not quite," corrected Snape. Mariah looked up inquisitively at him, and he continued, "the flowers are turning blue and the leaves yellow. So it won't look JUST like that," Mariah's eyes began to narrow, " but close enough for us to recognize I'm sure." It wasn't necessary to pick a fight just then.  
  
"Right. So when can we go, Severus? We should probably plan that now to avoid having to talk to each other in public." Mariah's voice held no hint of sarcasm. She must finally realize that we need to keep this under wraps, he thought.  
  
"I have no engagements planned this evening, if we go soon after supper it should still be light out. But we should not go together. I will meet you outside the southern stands of the Quidditch field and we can go from there."  
  
"Fine then. Why don't you take this book with you so you can read up on the Graminis before class?" He took the book from her outstretched hand with a nod. Mariah began packing up the rest of her belongings and looked toward the door. "Do you want to leave first or shall I?"  
  
"You can go first, I'm going to skip breakfast anyway."  
  
With a quick "see you in potions, Severus," she scurried off.  
  
Snape sat down and began reading the chapter in Grasmeister's that Mariah had pointed out earlier. Graminis Socialis requires twelve hours of sunlight per day and just enough water to keep the soil moist. it has two flowering seasons, one in the spring and one in the fall, with orange flowers in the spring and fuschia in the fall. these differences result from two different bee species performing the pollination. its seeds are used in making Gramony, a potent liqueur. all in all, it sounds like a pretty average plant, he thought.  
  
Ten minutes had passed since the HufflePuff had left the greenhouse. Snape stood, holding the book, and walked outside. The sun was now up, but the fields were devoid of students, for everyone was now at breakfast. He strolled back to the Slytherin dorm pondering over the taste of Gramony, a liqueur with which he was unfamiliar.  
  
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Mariah's first class of the day was Defense Against the Dark Arts, which HufflePuff shared with Gryffindor. Professor Conterreo was a shrew-faced prune of a man who was hard of hearing but had helped Professor Dumbledore defeat the evil Grindelwald in the forties. He tended to shout rather than speak, and often banged his walking stick on the table for emphasis. All that said, he certainly knew his subject matter. Today's lesson was the "Dirumpere" curse, not one of the unforgivables, but a curse that effectively rendered one's opponent helpless by causing them to burst into unconsoleable sobbing.  
  
They were also practicing the counter-curse, "Nimius Guardium", which on its own is also a powerful curse that causes the afflicted to laugh uncontrollably, but when cast on one affected by Dirumpere, results in a controlled giggle. The logistics of casting a spell while sobbing being what they are, the Nimius Guardium counter is usually cast by a companion to the afflicted, but for training purposes the students worked in pairs.  
  
This class was a bit of a trial to say the least. Mariah's friend and partner, Darby Blaythus, was having difficulty enunciating the word "Nimius" thanks to a newly acquired lisp resulting from two missing front teeth (courtesy of a bludger to the face). So after hitting Mariah with the Dirumpere, she could do no better than "Nimiuth Guardium" which sadly had no effect on poor Mariah's sobbing. The Professor, busy at the other end of the room criticizing a Gryffindor boy on his pronunciation, was oblivious to Mariah's distress.  
  
In frustration, Darby grabbed the arm of the student to her left, who just happened to be Gryffindor Remus Lupin. "Help me, pleathe!" She begged, motioning toward Mariah, who was now curled up on the floor weeping, "I just can't thay it right!"  
  
Remus quickly aimed his wand and performed the spell perfectly. Mariah stood up, gasping and chuckling lightly, as she struggled to squash the remains of the curse. Poor Darby was apologizing profusely while Mariah thanked Remus for his kind help. "That's one nasty curse, " she said, "even if it IS forgiveable!" Always the demonstrative one, Mariah hugged Lupin enthusiastically in thanks.  
  
He blushed in response, "My pleasure."  
  
Mariah then hugged Darby, who was almost in tears herself, and reassured her that there was no lasting harm done. "We'll just have to wait on that curse until after you grow Madame Altrix helps you grow your teeth back!" The two girls laughed.  
  
And Sirius Black walked up to his partner, Remus, and clapped him on the back. "Nice work, chum." He glanced over at the laughing HufflePuffs and noted to himself that Miss Grougher did have a very nice laugh indeed. 


	4. Chapter 4

Herbology class went as smoothly as to be expected, Snape thought later. Of course there were several snickers as he entered the classroom and sat next to Mariah and he was sure that Grover Malfoy's sneezing fit sounded suspiciously like "Slytherin Stud", but for the most part he and Mariah were able to work on the project relatively unmolested. They began devising a series of tests by which they would try to determine the nature of the Graminis' (or GS as they now called it) strange malady. Luckily, Snape's rapport with the Potions professor, Professor Fellis granted him after- hours access to the potions lab, so they'd have ample opportunity to experiment away from the prying eyes of their classmates.  
  
Snape found himself looking forward to the evening's trip out to the valley beyond the Quidditch fields. The girl who was meeting him was irrelevant; the mystery underlying their shared project was the draw. Snape wasn't being arrogant by fancying himself an intellectual; his excellent grades verified this fact. His classes were rarely a challenge (save for Divination, but that class was a joke which Snape planned not to continue past the end of the current year), and Snape liked little more than a puzzle to challenge his mind.  
  
The girl's presence he would tolerate. Not that he had a choice, but she did show an unusual aptitude for Herbology that would prove useful. And as of yet, she'd refrained from insulting him and actually had treated him quite respectably, which was a rare experience for him. He did however hope that at some point she would learn to control her insatiable desire to laugh at everything. It was rather unbecoming.  
  
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Sirius Black rubbed his forehead where a few days ago Snivellus Snape had bestowed upon him an extra eye. Such an insult would not go unpunished. Their rivalry, if it could be called that, had started in their first week at Hogwarts and would likely continue until their last. Usually Sirius got the better of Snape, since Sirius had friends and Snape most certainly did not. But he'd been alone during their last altercation and for once had not emerged the victor. Irrational hatred warps one's perception, and Sirius had an irrational hatred for Snape which was exacerbated by their recent exchange.  
  
And recently he'd made a disturbing discovery. somehow Snape had gotten himself a GIRLFRIEND! He'd overheard several Slytherin girls talking about Snape and a HufflePuff girl last Friday afternoon, and then he'd seen for himself Snape watching her in the Great Hall during dinner. Snape had snapped at the girl after dinner, but she seemed not to mind, laughing it off before she left.  
  
Sirius had been watching the girl ever since. Her name was Mariah Grougher, and she was generally well liked according to his HufflePuff friend Giles. He'd deliberately stood next to her in DADA this morning, hoping to overhear something interesting and get a better idea about what made her tick. She was very friendly, judging from the overzealous thanks she'd bestowed on Remus this morning and how she'd not been mad at the girl who'd unwittingly tormented her. Mariah was not particularly pretty; she had long curly brown hair and brown eyes that were just a little too large for her face. She was tall for a girl and a little heavier than was fashionable. Sirius wouldn't call her unattractive, but her appearance was certainly unremarkable. He'd never have noticed her had her questionable taste in boyfriends not caught his attention.  
  
But now, it had. The whole idea of Snape with a girlfriend threw his whole equilibrium and sense of rightness out of whack. Especially the idea of him with a LIKEABLE girlfriend.  
  
"Earth to Sirius!" His best friend, James Potter, was waving a hand in front of his face. "Are we on for tonight? Same place?"  
  
Sirius struggled to remember the significance of "tonight". He obviously didn't think fast enough because James continued, "It's MONDAY, James. we have to work on our little 'project'." he tilted his head toward Remus, who was sitting crosslegged on the grass reading a book.  
  
Of course. What an idiot. He, James, and Peter Pettigrew had been training themselves to become Animagi for the past two years. They recently moved their Tuesday night session to Monday nights to work around James' Quidditch schedule. Although they'd made some progress in the training, they still had a long way to go. Normally, Sirius was the one leading the effort, since the whole purpose of the exercise was to be able to keep poor Remus company when he endured his monthly transformation into a werewolf. For some reason though, this evening Sirius found he had better things to do.  
  
"Oh hell, I forgot," exclaimed Sirius. "I can't tonight, James. It's the Herbology project." Sirius thought fast. "I promised Wesley I would research the symptoms of aragave poisoning before tomorrow's class. I'm sorry. can we move it to Wednesday, just for this week?"  
  
James narrowed his eyes, "You're putting SCHOOLWORK ahead of Remus? Are you sure you're feeling well?" James rested the back of his hand on Sirius' forehead. "No fever, but maybe you should see Madame Altrix anyway."  
  
Sirius slapped his hand away with a laugh, "I know, I'm in danger of losing my reputation as a wastrel. But I did promise I would do it, and it wouldn't be fair to back out on such short notice. Wednesday?"  
  
James pretended to ponder for moment, then smiled and nodded. "Ok, we'll just practice without you tonight. But just this once! Don't you become a Ravenclaw on me now!"  
  
"There's hardly any danger of that, " chuckled Sirius, relieved he'd gotten out of this evening's session. He wondered what the HufflePuff would be doing this evening, and vowed to be watching when she did it. 


	5. Chapter 5

Snape ate his supper as quickly as he could without attracting undue attention and then departed the Great Hall. He took a more roundabout path out of the castle than was probably necessary out of his obsessive desire for secrecy. Since most students tended to linger at the table to socialize, his fears were largely unwarranted. He reached the Quidditch field before most students would have finished their meals. There was nothing to do but wait for the HufflePuff. He pulled "Healing Potions and Draughts" from his pack, sat down in the stands, and began to read.  
  
Time passed, probably twenty minutes or so, when he heard a small group of students approaching the fields. Snape looked up from his book to see the Ravenclaw Quidditch team heading his way. Anxious to avoid an inquiry regarding his presence, Severus scrambled down the steps and out the back of the stands just as the other students entered the field. "Where is that girl?" Snape thought in annoyance, as he leaned against one of the standposts, arms akimbo.  
  
Snape held this pose for not more than five minutes before he saw a lone girl running across the meadow toward him. She was carrying a large satchel that was flopping against her side as she ran.  
  
"Sorry I'm late, " Mariah apologized as she struggled to catch her breath. "Darby was telling me about her experience in the hospital wing this afternoon and I just couldn't get a word in edgewise."  
  
"That must have been a new experience for you," muttered Snape under his breath.  
  
Mariah giggled, "I heard that, you know. And actually you're wrong. Darby can talk out-talk me any day of the week. So you should be glad you're stuck with me instead of her. Shall we go?"  
  
Snape looked in on the Quidditch field; the Ravenclaws were doing racing drills and didn't seem like they'd notice if Snape and Mariah headed off together. Snape nodded and the two departed for valley where the sickly Graminis lived.  
  
"We'll probably find it faster if we split up." Mariah reasoned to Severus, once they'd arrived in the valley and each had taken out a sketch of the plant they sought. "I'll look by those trees, and you can search over there."  
  
"Don't go too deep into the trees," Snape cautioned. Mariah looked up at him as if he'd said something crazy. It took him a moment to realize that she thought he was worried for her safety. Oops. That definitely wasn't what he meant. "I mean Graminis isn't likely to be too deep in the woods, because it thrives in full sunlight. So we should be looking more out in the open."  
  
"Ah, I see." Mariah nodded in understanding. "Good point. Well, if you find it, holler. Toodles!" She bounced off toward where she'd indicated earlier.  
  
Snape wandered casually toward the gently sloping hill where his search was to begin. The grassy meadow gave way to more exotic ground coverings of ferns and vines, which wrapped around the gigantic trees like a knitted cardigan. Being careful to stay out in the open, Severus passed several patches of greenery that sported no flowers before he approached a dense flowerbed that surrounded a lone Agathus tree. He knelt down to take a closer look at the foliage. There must be a dozen species in this bed alone, he thought. He glanced at his reference sketch one more time then began circling the patch on hands and knees. Those look like rocyanthum. these leaves are the wrong shape. he crawled around for about ten minutes before the telltale bluish flowers and yellowing leaves of an ailing Graminis Socialis jumped out at him.  
  
Whereas the flowers in his sketch stood proudly amongst the leaves, these flowers bent low, staring towards the ground. Snape brought his face right in front of a flower for a closer look. The flower seemed to have only two petals, like a pair of lips gently parted for a drink. Severus sat back on his haunches for balance, then leaned in toward the flower again. With his right index finger, Snape gently tipped the flower up to face him and looked in closer still.  
  
"Damnit!" Snape shouted as he jerked his head back in pain. The bloody flower BIT him. Those petals were hiding some pretty nasty sharp teeth, which were now clinging tightly to the tip of his large nose!  
  
"All you alright?" Mariah called out from where she was searching about thirty meters away. She was answered by more cursing, so she scrambled to her feet and ran over to Severus. She dropped down to her knees in front of him and grabbed his hands, which were unsuccessfully to pry the petals loose. "Calm down, Severus.easy now.let me see." It took a minute of coaxing before he let her remove his hands and lean in for a look.  
  
"Oh dear. I don't remember reading that GS was predatory. this must be a side effect of its illness." Her left hand gripped a petal while the right cupped Severus' cheek in an attempt to steady him. "Hold still now." She pulled gently, but the only response she got was a grunt from Severus.  
  
"Don't panic. I have another idea." Still cupping Severus' cheek, she let go of the petal and began to gently tickle it with one finger. After a moment the petal started to shake. "I think it's loosening it's grip. just another minute." Mariah continued stroking the petal lightly and after another minute it let go, falling to the ground. A pearl of blood formed where the flower had bitten Severus, and she pressed the edge of her sleeve against it to stop the flow. She held her sleeve in place while she began tickling the second petal, and soon enough it too released its hold.  
  
"Are you ok?"  
  
Severus grimaced. "I've been better, it stings something awful. These buggers aren't poisonous, are they?"  
  
Mariah shook her head. "I don't think so. I read everything I could find about this plant and I found no mention of it being poisonous." She released the pressure on his nose and sure enough the bleeding had stopped. "It doesn't look very swollen, no more than if you'd just nicked yourself, so I'm sure whatever toxins it passed across were merely for pain induction. To keep pesky critters from eating it, no doubt. I wonder why it bit you?"  
  
Severus pulled back with a sneer, "I'm not particularly interested in why, just in that it doesn't happen again." He reached in his pack and pulled out a pair of gloves and a small shovel. "You might want to wear some too, we have to keep it alive to run our tests, *unfortunately*." He began to dig carefully around the plant, careful to avoid damaging the roots and also to keep his face away from the flowers. Mariah donned gloves and assisted in lifting the plant out of the ground once Severus had loosened its grip, then she gently placed it in a basket she extracted from her pack. The odd pair rose. The sun had almost set; they'd spent longer out here than they'd anticipated.  
  
"It's getting dark," noted Severus. "I think it is safe for us to walk back together, at least until we reach the main grounds." Although he would never admit it, Severus did not like the idea of a girl walking around unaccompanied after dark. Even if the girl was an annoying little HufflePuff. Mariah nodded, and the two walked back to the castle in silence.  
  
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Sirius congratulated himself on his excellent stealth in following Mariah from the Great Hall and across campus without being noticed. He kept a fair distance back, watching her long enough to determine her direction, then staying out of sight for several minutes before tracing her path.  
  
When she circumvented the greenhouses and headed south, Sirius knew she must be heading for the Quidditch field, so he lagged behind several minutes before heading out into the open after her.  
  
The Ravenclaws were mid-practice when Sirius arrived at the Quidditch field. He saw Wesley Kilgrove, his herbology project partner, whizzing far above. Kilgrove was a beater, and a pretty good one actually; Sirius found it unfortunate he wasn't in Gryffindor. Kilgrove waved when he spotted him, and when the team paused for a break, he flew down to stop next to Sirius.  
  
"Sirius! What brings you out this far?" Wesley was a friendly chap, and inquisitive as all Ravenclaws were.  
  
"Can't tell you, I'm afraid," Sirius replied with a smile and a bit of a wink, " the girl in question is still a bit shy. Which reminds me. I'm afraid I used our herbology project as an excuse to get out of another engagement. so if anyone asks I'd appreciate your covering for me."  
  
"Sure, not a problem. Although I am more than a little jealous, I must say. Have fun, and don't do anything I wouldn't do." Wesley gave Sirius a friendly punch on the arm and then soared back toward his teammates.  
  
Sirius looked around, trying to ascertain where Mariah had gone to. He could have just asked Wesley if he'd seen her, but that would have been a little too risky. Better he think Sirius was off meeting a nameless girl. The Quidditch field was surrounded by a lot of open space, but off to the south there was a valley with many treetops poking out. Since Sirius could see no other place Mariah could have gone, he set off toward the valley.  
  
When he came to the edge of the valley he dropped onto all fours and crawled behind a large row of bushes. He peeked around and down and nearly gasped aloud. Mariah and Snape were about thirty meters away. They were sitting across from one another in a flowerbed, their heads very close together. Mariah had her hands on Snivellus' cheeks, and she ... Merlin's teeth! . was caressing his nose! Sirius' head began to throb and a queasy feeling formed in his stomach. What on Earth did she see in him? Sirius wanted to look away but found he could not, his eyes rooted to the sight in perverse fascination.  
  
After what seemed to Sirius an eternity but was actually only a couple of minutes, the couple broke apart and began digging in the flowerbed. Too bad, Snivellus, it seems your project is getting in the way of your snogging. Better luck next time, he thought sarcastically to himself as he pulled his eyes away from them and crept off silently back toward the castle. 


	6. Chapter 6

The next couple of weeks were relatively uneventful. Mariah and Severus continued to meet clandestinely to work on their project. Most times they worked in the evenings down in the Potions Dungeon, where few besides Professor Fellis saw them.  
  
"I don't understand these results, Severus. We've tested for just about every known vitamin deficiency and by rights these plants should be healthy as hippogriffs." Mariah sighed as she cleaned out the vials after yet another useless test.  
  
"Obviously the problem then is not a vitamin deficiency," stated Snape, "so our strategy must adapt. Perhaps we ought to be looking for an infection or parasite?"  
  
So their testing began anew. Mariah's knowledge of herbology and Snape's command of potionmaking did allow them to quickly eliminate several possibilities, but they still had many tests to perform. They soon hit a stumbling block; they'd run out of the reagent needed to test for several of the more obscure infective agents. Professor Fellis had agreed to order some more, but it would take several days to arrive.  
  
"Well, that's that then," said Mariah. "I suppose you'll enjoy having a break from all this. I think I'll use the time to write my Transfiguration essay, I'm afraid I've left it on the back burner lately. How about you?"  
  
Snape stared back at her, surprised she'd asked such a question of him.  
  
"Never mind," she sighed, "I forgot.no idle chit-chat. Well, have a good week and let me know when the supplies arrive."  
  
Snape watched her leave. They'd been working together for about two weeks now, and he'd noticed something strange about her, that he'd only just now put his finger on. She treated him like she treated everyone else. She didn't tease or insult him, or make rude comments about his appearance or manners. When she spoke to him, she just talked. She'd kept most of the conversation to the task at hand, like he'd requested of her back when they'd first paired up, but she didn't act as if she disliked being around him. She was almost.friendly. He couldn't remember when the last time anyone not a Professor had wished him a good week. Very curious, and if he would let himself admit it, somewhat pleasant.  
  
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Sirius had not had as productive a two weeks as his nemesis and his girlfriend. Everywhere he went, he saw her, smiling and laughing with her friends. In the evenings, when he could get away from James and Remus, he'd follow her. She always went down to the Potions dungeon. To be with him, no doubt. Snivellus himself acted as he always did, skulking about alone most of the time, sneering whenever he saw Sirius and his friends. Earlier this morning, he'd seen Mariah pass Snape in the hall. She smiled at him, and he didn't so much as look at her. What a git, thought Sirius. If I she were my girlfriend, I'd treat her so much better that he does.  
  
Snape's cavalier attitude toward Mariah incensed Sirius the most. He spent hours each day trying to figure out what she saw in him, why she'd bother with a boy who ignored her in the halls and only treated her well in private. He couldn't get the night in the meadow out of his mind; he continually replayed the scene in his head. Snape and Mariah kneeling on the ground, her hands on his face, their faces together.  
  
Damn him.Sirius kicked a rock along the path as he headed towards the tree where he was meeting Remus, James, and Peter. He imagined the rock were Snape's head as he followed it down the path, kicking it harder each time. He gave it one last swift kick as he approached the tree where his friends sat, and plopped down beside them.  
  
"What's got you all worked up, Sirius?" James was lying on his stomach with his feet in the air, chewing on the end of his quill as he stared at the essay he was trying unsuccessfully to write. "You sure did a number on that poor rock over there."  
  
Sirius started plucking strands of grass from the lawn underneath him and shredding them with his fingers. "Just thinking about our least favorite Slytherin, and how I'd like to teach him a lesson."  
  
Remus looked up from his book and rolled his eyes, turning to Peter, "So, Peter, how many times has Sirius said that this week so far."  
  
Peter didn't even look up from his book, "Seventeen, if we include the times he's wanted to 'pummel Snape senseless' and thirteen if we don't."  
  
James laughed, "I think they're trying to tell you something, Sirius."  
  
Sirius scowled back at him. "I can't believe you're mocking me. You can't tell me you wouldn't relish the opportunity as well." "Of course we would, but you don't see us obsessing about it either," James remarked, "the rest of us aren't letting it take over our lives.what are you looking at?"  
  
Sirius wasn't listening to his friend anymore. He was staring beyond him to a tree about fifteen yards away, where Mariah had just joined a small group of HufflePuff girls. They were standing in by the tree, holding their books and laughing about something. Sirius noticed that Mariah tended to lean forward and then toss her head back when she laughed, and he found this rather endearing.  
  
James turned his head to follow Sirius' gaze, "Ah! So a HufflePuff has taken your fancy.you sly dog! Which one is it? The one with the long blond hair is a real looker." When he failed to get a response from Sirius he poked him in the leg. "Sirius!"  
  
Sirius reluctantly turned his attention back to his friend. "Not her, the one to her left."  
  
Remus nodded appreciatively, "She's a nice girl. Gives good hugs too." This remark earned him a glare from his friend.  
  
James though was not so easily convinced and said inquisitively, "She's not bad, but she's definitely not your normal type. What's so special about her?"  
  
Peter rarely had such an opportunity to be In The Know, so he jumped on that question. "She's Snape's girlfriend, silly! He's just jealous!"  
  
Everyone turned to look at Peter. James and Remus with incredulous stares and Sirius in anger. Peter gulped and continued, "The Slytherins were all talking about it a couple weeks back, it was a big scandal. I can't believe you didn't know."  
  
Remus snorted and replied, "Well, not all of us pay as much attention to scandals in Slytherin house as you apparently do, Peter." He turned back to Sirius, "It all makes sense now. Your recently intensified desire to 'pummel Snape senseless' comes not from his recent redesign of your face (which would have been a good enough excuse in my book) but from his daring to have an attractive girlfriend. How noble of you," he finished sarcastically.  
  
"He doesn't treat her well at all, Moony. I've seen it! She'll smile at him in the hallway and he doesn't even look at her. Oh, he's happy enough to snog her in private but in public he treats her like flobworms," Sirius ripped up another chunk of grass in frustration.  
  
James cringed, "Please, no mention of snogging in relation to Snape, I don't wish to lose my lunch."  
  
Peter laughed hysterically at this, more so than was appropriate, then quickly stopped when Remus gave him a little shove on the shoulder.  
  
"Well," said James pragmatically, "are you going to try to woo her away from Snape then?"  
  
Sirius' cheeks began to redden, and he began to hem and haw.  
  
"Because obviously you're too obsessed with this girl to concentrate on anything else.and I'd hate for your grades to suffer as a result." Now it was Remus' turn to snicker at James' suggestion.  
  
Sirius' eyes narrowed, "You don't think I can, Remus? You just watch me." He stood up in a huff and started walking purposefully towards the group of girls.  
  
"But Sirius, that's not what I meant." Remus trailed off. Sirius was too far away to hear. "I just didn't think his grades could get much worse is all," he mentioned to Peter as the three of them shifted position so as to get a better view of the show to come. 


	7. Chapter 7

Sirius strode toward the group of girls, spurred on by Remus' scorn. As if any girl would prefer that slimy, greasy, Slytherin git to me, he thought to himself. Within no time at all he found himself standing in front of them. There were three other girls with Mariah, one was her lisping DADA partner, the other two he had seen in classes but had never associated with. Mariah's friends reacted predictably to his approach, they were blushing, giggling and otherwise acting pleasantly surprised by his presence. Mariah herself seemed less impressed.  
  
Sirius opened his mouth to speak before realizing he'd failed to plan what he would say. "Um.hi there." How eloquent, he thought. A short brunette HufflePuff giggled. The pretty blonde HufflePuff that James had admired was smiling prettily at him in an obvious attempt at coyness. Darby was blushing furiously. Mariah just stared at him, expressionless. He gazed back at her.  
  
"Well, helloooo, Sirius Black!" drawled the blonde, "What brings you to our fair tree party?"  
  
"I came to see Mariah," he answered, his eyes not leaving Mariah even momentarily.  
  
"Mariah? You sly girl. you didn't tell us you were friends with Sirius Black!" The blonde put extra emphasis on the words "Sirius Black", as if to imply any connection with him was particularly newsworthy. She curled her hand around Sirius' bicep and continued, "Isn't she naughty for keeping such a secret, Sirius."  
  
"I didn't tell you I was friends with him, Erin, because I am not friends with him." Mariah replied, watching Erin's possessive behavior (and Sirius' apparent discomfort with it) with amusement. "But don't let me stop you from developing such a friendship, I think you'd get along famously. Now if you'll excuse me."  
  
Mariah adjusted her pack on her shoulder and headed off down the path. When she passed by where Remus, James and Peter were sitting, she smiled and waved at Remus. Remus blushed a little as he waved back.  
  
Sirius, meanwhile, had some difficulty extricating himself from the gaggle of girls who were now questioning him about his obviously unrequited interest in their friend. Eventually he yanked his arm out of HufflePuff Erin's grasp and chased after Mariah. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his 'friends' laughing and giving him the 'Way to go!' signal as he passed them.  
  
"Wait!" Sirius called when he was within reach of Mariah. He reached out and grabbed her shoulder to pull her around to face him. She jerked her shoulder out of his grasp but turned to face him of her own accord.  
  
"What do you want from me, Black?" Mariah stared at him incredulously. "What could possibly be so blasted important to justify your manhandling me so?"  
  
Sirius' look became chagrined as he answered slowly, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. I just wanted to talk to you."  
  
"Why?" challenged Mariah. "I can't think of anything we have to talk about."  
  
Sirius was shocked by her apparent antipathy towards him. "I just.want to get to know you better, that's all." Merlin's teeth, he thought. I hope that didn't sound as stupid to her as it did reverberating in my head.  
  
"You want to get to know me better," she repeated. "Again I ask.why?"  
  
"I.I just want to, that's all." Sirius felt himself blush under her annoyed stare. Since when did he blush?!?  
  
Mariah's eyes narrowed as she asked, "Is this some kind of joke? Did your friend Potter dare you to do this?"  
  
"James?" Sirius replied in confusion. "Of course not. He didn't even know I was interested in you until a few minutes ago." Oops. Blast his loose lips.  
  
Mariah still seemed unconvinced of his sincerity, but softened a little as she replied, "Well, I don't mean to hurt your feelings or anything but you're really not my type. Not my type at all. Seriously, you should go back and talk to Erin. She's really a nice girl, even if she is a little forward. I think you'd be much better suited to her." She sighed. "I really do need to go now. I'm sorry, Sirius."  
  
Sirius watched the girl depart toward the HufflePuff dormitories. Not her type? Sirius knew, modesty aside, that he was easily one of the three best looking boys in their class. Erin's behavior was quite typical of the fourth-year female population of Hogwarts, actually. They usually fell over each other vying for his attention. Yet this one dismissed him without a second glance.  
  
He sucked in a breath as the thought hit him. Snape. Maybe their relationship was more than it seemed; the git was into all sorts of dark magic, maybe he'd enchanted her somehow so that he wouldn't have any competition for her affections. Surely no girl in her right mind would prefer that ugly dark prat to him? Surely not.  
  
Speak of the devil, Sirius thought. Snape himself was walking, books in hand, toward the castle entrance, apparently oblivious to his presence. Sirius headed toward him at a brisk walk, drew in behind him and gave him a bit of a shove. The books went flying, and Snivellus whirled around to face him.  
  
"Looking for a rematch, Black?" Snape sneered at him. "Perhaps you'd prefer an extra nose this time?"  
  
"No thanks, Snivellus, I can smell you quite well with the one I have. But I didn't come over here to discuss anatomy with you."  
  
"Really," drawled Snape. "You could have fooled me."  
  
"I wanted to have a .chat . about your little HufflePuff girlfriend." Sirius noted the expression on Snape's face change several times inexplicably before returning quickly to its previous sneer.  
  
"Hmm. I can't think of one reason why I would discuss my love life with you, Black."  
  
"I don't know what you're doing to her, but I know you're up to something, Snivellus. No girl in her right mind would have anything to do with a greasy git like you. You had better watch your back, because I'll be watching. And when I figure out what you've done to her, believe me, you'll pay." Snape was staring at him, expression unchanged, apparently unimpressed. Sirius kicked one of Snape's books up in the air before walking away "Don't forget your books."  
  
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Snape waited until Black was far away before bending over to retrieve his fallen books. As he Reparo'd away the dents and scratches in his books, Snape pondered the very bizarre warning he'd just received. He'd figured out quickly that his 'little HufflePuff girlfriend' must be Mariah. Black must have heard the gossip a few weeks back and took it closer to heart than any of the Slytherins who were spreading it had. But the other part made absolutely no sense at all. Black seemed to believe that he had. enchanted her...or something similar. Where he got that idea, Snape couldn't begin to guess. Mariah had been acting normally as far as he could tell. She certainly didn't seem enchanted to him.  
  
Severus strolled slowly back to his dormitory, working the puzzle in his mind as he walked. Normally he ignored Black's taunting, since it consisted primarily of unimaginative insults. But there was something different here, something that didn't quite fit, and Snape had never been able to resist a mystery. He repeated Black's words over and over in his head, until the pieces snapped into place.  
  
"No girl in her right mind would have anything to do with a greasy git like you."  
  
Black thought that the only explanation for the supposed relationship between himself and the HufflePuff was that he'd somehow magically forced himself on her.  
  
Snape could feel his face getting red and the blood rushing to his head. What a despicable prick, he thought. Snape knew he wasn't the best looking boy around, by far, but to imply he'd have to resort to magic in order to attract a girl.ridiculous. I could attract a girl if I wanted to, I just don't want to, he thought. There were no girls at Hogwarts that were worthy of his attention. Some were pretty, true, but stupid or giggly or insipid to a one. Ironically enough, Mariah was probably one the best of the lot, now that she didn't bother him with incessant chatter anymore. She was a bit round in the middle and her gigantic eyes were too far apart and she still laughed too much but overall she was pleasant company.  
  
And Sirius Black was jealous. It all made sense now. Snape grinned diabolically; this was going to be fun. 


	8. Chapter 8

"Mariah, there's something going on with you and Sirius Black, isn't there? You can tell me, you know. I won't say anything to little Miss BigMouth if you don't want me to." Darby's teeth were now fully repaired and her lisp only a memory. She and Mariah arrived at breakfast early, so had a few minutes to chat privately before their other friends arrived.  
  
"Really, there isn't. You know I'd tell you if there was. The whole thing is really strange. I catch him watching me all the time, it's quite creepy actually." Mariah shuddered, recalling the intense look on Sirius' face as he stared at her when he thought she didn't notice. "He says he just wants to get to know me better but there's something about him I just can't seem to trust."  
  
"I don't know, Mariah, he's quite the catch. All the Gryffindor girls would be pulling their hair out in jealousy if you, a mere HufflePuff, were to snag him. And it's not as if he weren't GORGEOUS." Clearly Darby was captivated by Black's charms.  
  
Mariah sniggered and shook her head, "So what if he's good looking. He's quite full of himself and has enough feminine attention without my needing to add my name to the list. I told him he'd have better luck with Erin, maybe he'll take my advice."  
  
Darby gasped, "You snubbed him? To his face? I bet he didn't like that at all!" "I dare say he didn't," replied Mariah, " but that isn't really my problem, is it? Look, can we talk about something else? I'm heartily sick of talking about Sirius Black already."  
  
Darby knew when to take a hint. "So how is your Herbology project coming along? You haven't said much about it. How has it been, working with Mr. Gloom and Doom, anyway?"  
  
"He has a name, you know. And it's been fine, he's really quite smart so I know I was right to want to work with him."  
  
Darby pressed on, "But isn't it awful spending so much time with such a bad tempered lout? And one with poor personal hygiene as well? I mean, does he ever wash his hair?"  
  
Mariah snapped, "He's not that bad, Darby. He's just a bit grumpy. And you would be too if people insulted you all the time. The boy's got feelings, you know."  
  
Darby rocked back in her chair as she hypothesized, "Let me see if I understand this. You snub Sirius Black, one of the dishiest boys in our year, to his face. But then you jump all over me for insulting that greasy Slytherin git Snape, who incidentally deserves it." She stopped rocking and stared across at Mariah. "What has Snape done to deserve such loyalty from you?"  
  
"It's not loyalty, it's common decency. You've seen for yourself that just about everyone picks on Severus. Not just Black and Potter, but a bunch of his own Housemates as well. I've spent lots of time with him the past few months, and while I can't say he's the friendliest chap of my acquaintance he has been quite decent and certainly not deserving of scorn." Mariah's cheeks became flushed with the ferocity of her defense of her Herbology partner. "He's bloody brilliant in the potions lab, and that's more important to me than the grease content of his hair."  
  
"You like him, don't you."  
  
"If by 'like' you mean 'love', then no, I don't 'like' him. But I do actually like him somewhat, using like in its everyday context. He's an interesting person that I am enjoying working with." Mariah was beginning to feel very defensive. Why was it such a big deal, anyway? She noticed Darby's attention had strayed; her friend was now looking above her. "What are you looking at?"  
  
"Speak of the devil." murmured Darby. Mariah saw a shadow form on the table before her and turned in her chair. Severus was standing behind her.  
  
"Severus! Hi." Mariah fumbled for words through her confusion. Snape was always so reluctant for them to be seen together, and with Darby watching like a hawk she couldn't flat out ask why he'd come to her publicly. "Any news from Professor Fellis?" She decided on the first neutral topic to come to mind.  
  
"Actually, yes. That's why I stopped by. The reagent arrived last night, so we can continue with our work after classes today." Was Mariah imagining things or was Snape smiling at her? "Can you stay behind with me after potions this afternoon to continue where we left off?"  
  
Mariah nodded, "Sure, that would be fine."  
  
"Excellent," said Snape with a smile. "I'll see you in Herbology then." He gave a polite nod toward Darby before departing for his own table.  
  
A sly grin had crept across Darby's face as she informed Mariah sagely, "I think he likes you."  
  
Mariah's brow furrowed as she retorted, "Hardly. He's just anxious to get back to work on the project." She saw Erin and Bronwyn heading toward them and hurriedly whispered, "We'll have to talk about this later!" before wishing her newly arrived friends a warm "Good Morning!"  
  
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After Potions, their last class of the day, Mariah and Severus resumed their experimentation on the ailing Graminis Socialis. They worked straight through dinner, since some of the experiments required careful attention. Still though, they could isolate no particular problem. None of the tests for viral or bacterial contaminants showed a positive result.  
  
Late in the evening, when they were packing up their things to call it a night, Mariah turned to Snape and asked timidly, "Severus, can I ask you something?"  
  
He looked up from his vials and at the tentative expression on her face. He considered for a moment, then replied, "Yes, what is it?"  
  
"Why did you come up to me at breakfast this morning, instead of sending me a note? I'm sure we were seen by lots of people, even though it was still early." Mariah's large eyes were trained on him, still looking slightly nervous, as if she feared his answer. Was he that much of an ogre, he thought?  
  
"I'm sure we were.I have been thinking and I've reconsidered my previous position regarding the need for discretion. Enough time has passed that our being seen together is not noteworthy in anyway, so undue precaution is no longer necessary." Snape saw the tension leave her as she listened.  
  
"Oh.that's good then." Her eyes began to twinkle. "So do I have permission to accost you during meals as well, then?"  
  
Snape was confused until he remembered the vicious note he'd written at the beginning of the term. He felt himself blushing a little as he responded, "Accost to your heart's content, fair HufflePuff." He was impressed with his own charm when Mariah responded by laughing delightfully. "Shall I accompany you back upstairs?" he asked.  
  
"Please do," she replied, "but not all the way to the dormitories. Our portrait would probably collapse in shock if she saw a Slytherin so close to our door."  
  
"Fair enough," answered Snape, and the two of them set off out of the dungeon.  
  
This is splendid, thought Snape. Now if the HufflePuff and I are seen together publicly, it merely reinforces the delusion in Black's mind that we have a romantic relationship. Far be it from me to tell him otherwise. The thought of hoodwinking Black in such a way made it that much easier for Severus to smile at Mariah and laugh at her witticisms. 


	9. Chapter 9

"I must confess, I'm at a loss," Severus shook his head in frustration. "We've tried every diagnostic test I know of and still we know nothing. I am fast running out of ideas."  
  
The room was silent for a few moments, as Severus paced and Mariah chewed on the end of her quill. After a few moments she replied, "Perhaps we're going about this all wrong. What if the problem isn't the plant itself but something with the environment?"  
  
Severus stopped pacing to look at her, "What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, what if something has happened to change the environment in the meadow from what GS is used to, so that the growing conditions are no longer optimal. We know it isn't the soil itself, since we already tested that, but there are other things it could be." Mariah hopped down from her stool and started her own pacing. "Something with the weather, the other plants nearby.I don't know exactly. But if there is nothing wrong with the plant itself there must be something wrong around it."  
  
Severus nodded and remarked, "Of course, logic dictates that must be the case. So how do we proceed. Unfortunately, we're running out of time."  
  
It was four days before Halloween, only six weeks left until the end of the term. Mariah pursed her lips to think, then announced, "We'll have to do some comparative analysis. We need to study the GS somewhere where it is thriving, then compare its environment closely with what we have here." She looked up at Severus. "But we'd have to leave campus for that. I don't know if we'd be allowed to go."  
  
Severus eyes twinkled as he smirked, "Well, we could ask Professor Samling; after all, he did say we should ask if we need something. Or we could take a detour on our next Hogsmeade weekend."  
  
"A detour?" Mariah grinned as she comprehended his meaning. "Meaning we sneak off when everyone else is gorging themselves on Butterbeer? Sounds like fun."  
  
"Indeed. However, we will only have a few hours to get there, collect our data, and get back unnoticed. Where do we need to go, by the way? Hopefully somewhere on the Floo network, otherwise we may have some difficulty."  
  
Mariah was already flipping back through Grasmeister's looking for the right page. "Here we are.'Graminis Socialis is indigenous to southwestern England, including Cornwall and Devon.' That's a bit far, but at least it isn't across the ocean."  
  
"Still rather risky," cautioned Severus, "if you've never been there and don't know where you're going. Are you familiar with that area?"  
  
Mariah shook her head.  
  
"Neither am I. Thus, it would likely take us two trips to accomplish: one to determine where we need to look and another to actually complete the research. That wouldn't leave us enough time to finish the project before the end of term."  
  
"So we're back to option one, asking Professor Samling for permission. But what if he doesn't grant it?" Mariah was skeptical that two fourth year students would be permitted to traipse the countryside alone. "We won't be able to finish our project."  
  
"Which is why I think he will grant it," reasoned Severus. "If we delineate all the work we've done so far and express that this is the logical next step, I think he will pull some strings to allow it. He might even take us himself. However, you should be the one to ask him for permission."  
  
"Why is that?" asked Mariah in confusion.  
  
"Because you're a Hufflepuff. Despite all of Samling's rhetoric about 'solidarity between the Houses' and the 'good old days' he's still a Hufflepuff himself and more likely to grant your request than mine."  
  
Fair enough, thought Mariah as she sheepishly grinned back. "I guess old prejudices die hard. But I'm sure Professor Fellis was willing to order the reagent for us because it was you who asked him for it, so I suppose all the Houses benefit from favoritism at some point."  
  
"True enough. I'll finish cleaning up here, why don't you track down Professor Samling and see if you can beguile him with your Hufflepuff charms."  
  
Mariah nodded, "I'll let you know what he says tomorrow. Goodnight, Severus."  
  
He really has gotten friendlier lately, thought Mariah as she made her way towards Professor Samling's office. I guess he just takes awhile to warm up to people. Too bad most folks don't give him a chance.  
  
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"Over here!" Mariah whispered and waved frantically as she saw Severus' eyes wading through the sea of faces that were currently gathered in the library. His eyes finally caught hers and he smiled as he came to sit beside her.  
  
"So what did Samling have to say?" Severus was leaning in close and whispering softly, probably to avoid the ire of Madame Pince, who was currently patrolling the room.  
  
"He seemed pretty excited, actually, that we've been carrying out such a thorough study. He's going to ask Professor Dumbledore if it will be all right to take us to Cornwall, but he's pretty certain Dumbledore will approve the trip." Mariah whispered back, excitedly.  
  
"Excellent." Severus smiled at her again. Mariah was still getting used to the 'new Severus' but decided she liked him much better now. "We're bound to figure out the puzzle now."  
  
"What are you doing?" Severus had licked his finger and was now wiping it against her cheek. It tickled.  
  
"You've got a smudge of ink on your face.hold still a minute." He was leaning in very close. He removed his finger and examined her cheek. "Nope, still there." He held her chin in place with his other hand and again rubbed his fingertip against her cheek. "Much better."  
  
"Thank you." Mariah's stomach was fluttering a little; I'm probably just hungry, she thought.  
  
"Well, we can't have you walking around campus all inked up now, can we?" Did he just wink at her? Severus never ceased to surprise her.  
  
"Definitely not," she whispered back, trying to ignore the fluttering. "but we should really start planning our sample collection strategy."  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
The next morning, Severus found himself in quite a good mood as he strolled towards the Great Hall for breakfast. He hummed a tune softly as he envisioned the prospect of a research trip to Cornwall with Mariah. Oh, how the tongues would wag at that! He didn't bother himself by thinking that he would actually enjoy the outing in its own right, that Mariah would be good company for a stroll along the cliffs that framed the coastline. That he was starting to get used to having a friend, such as she was. He much preferred to dwell on the satisfaction he was getting that their friendship was infuriating his nemesis. Black had looked livid in the library yesterday; the 'smudge on the cheek' trick had worked like a charm.  
  
"What are YOU so cheery about this morning, Snivellus?" As if summoned by his thoughts, Black stepped right in front of him, blocking his path.  
  
"Oh, nothing in particular," answered Snape with a secretive smile. "Just pondering how nice life at Hogwarts is right now."  
  
"You think you've got it made, don't you. now that you've got your deluded little girlfriend dancing attendance on you. Well, it won't last. I'll figure out what sort of enchantment you've placed on her and then she won't so much as look at you. Don't know how she does it anyway, with you being such a sniveling, ugly mugged git. Once I reverse the spell, she'll see you for what you really are, a worthless loser that no one would willingly associate with. And then you'll be back where you started, so much of an outcast that even other Slytherins don't have anything to do with you."  
  
About midway through Black's tirade, Snape's eye was caught by some movement behind Black. Mariah was approaching them, but suddenly she slowed her pace and stopped several steps away, behind Black's back, as if to keep Black unaware of her presence. Snape felt himself blush, wishing her away, not wanting her to witness Black's abuse of him, but he refused to draw attention to her either. Mariah's face curled into a frown as she listened, her fists clenching tighter with each additional insult. She must be really regretting ever getting mixed up with me, he thought, and cringed as she began moving forward again to confront him.  
  
"You insufferable, arrogant pig!" shouted Mariah, giving Black a hard shove. "How dare you talk about Severus that way?" She moved in towards him aggressively, pulling herself up to her full height, arms akimbo.  
  
Black's jaw dropped and he instinctively stepped backwards away from Mariah. "I. but it's all true." Black stepped forward again, leaning down to face Mariah. "He is a greasy, good-for-nothing Slytherin git and I don't understand how you can even look at him. He's obviously got you hoodwinked somehow, and I mean to find out how." Mariah sneered back at him, "You don't understand how I can look at him? Well, he's a damn sight easier to look at than you are, pretty boy." Snape tried to control his surprise as Mariah closed in beside him and put an arm around his waist, pulling him tightly to her side. "Severus has more talent and brains in his big toe than you have in your whole body, Black. He's worth ten of you any day of the week. And another thing." she paused to take a breath, then continued harshly, "I don't know why you keep going on about enchantment but I can assure you that I 'associate' with Severus because I want to, and for no other reason. Now take your petty jealous self and go."  
  
She'd actually defended him, thought Snape in a daze. He watched as Black gritted his teeth and stormed off, and then noticed that Mariah still had an arm around him and was looking up at him with a worried expression.  
  
"You're not taking what he said seriously, are you, Severus? He's just a bully, not at all worth paying attention to." Mariah looked down at her arm, then released Severus' waist and pulled her arm gently back. "Sorry about that, but Black just made me so mad that I wanted to give some of my own back to him."  
  
"Why.why did you defend me?" asked Severus, unsure of what her answer would be but strangely desiring to find out. "And why would you say that I'm easier to look at than Black? False modesty aside, I know what I look like and I know what girls think about what Black looks like and I don't come out ahead in that comparison."  
  
Mariah was looking at him strangely, "Because it's true. I don't trust Black, I never have. He's always seemed creepy to me, even more so recently since I've caught him staring at me and I don't like it. He may be 'good looking' in the traditional sense but he certainly isn't to me. He's got an ugly soul and that makes him ugly to me throughout."  
  
Snape watched Mariah as she spoke, trying to ascertain whether she was joking or not. But she seemed completely serious (no pun intended) in her disdain for Black. "It seems we have yet another thing in common, for I quite detest Black myself."  
  
Mariah smiled up at him, "Somehow that doesn't surprise me. But seriously, don't pay any attention to him. This isn't really about you."  
  
"What do you mean?" Snape eyed her curiously. He and Black had been at odds for the past four years, and it had always seemed quite personal to him.  
  
"Well, I wouldn't have said anything under other circumstances, but." Mariah herself blushed a bit as she admitted, "Black came to talk to me a few days back. He expressed an . interest . in getting to know me better. But as I told you, I don't trust him, so I told him I wasn't interested." Mariah sighed. "So, he's probably seen me with you a lot recently and is jealous that I prefer your company to his. Being the arrogant bully that he is, he can't just take that at face value but has to imagine me as the victim in order to justify it in his conceited little pea-brain."  
  
"You really do?" Snape asked in wonder, "Prefer my company to his, that is?"  
  
Mariah laughed, "Of course, silly. Haven't I just said so?"  
  
"I think I'll have to mark this day on my calendar," remarked Severus to himself as the two of them entered the Great Hall together. "This is quite a unique occurrence." He almost, but not quite, felt a little guilty for the 'smudge-on-the-cheek' trick. 


	10. Chapter 10

Mariah and several of her friends were chatting in the hallway after History of Magic, discussing nothing more important than how boring Professor Binns' lecture had been when Mariah felt a large, warm hand rest gently on her shoulder. She turned her head to see who it belonged to and her face broke out in a wide grin.  
  
"Si!" Mariah turned and bestowed a warm hug on the husky boy behind her. "Nice of you to come see me for once!"  
  
She loosened her grip on the older Gryffindor and turned back to her friends, one arm still around his waist. "You all know my big lug of a neighbor, don't you?"  
  
"Hi, Silas," Erin said prettily. "How's your sixth year going?"  
  
"Pretty well," he replied. "I think I'm passing most of my classes anyway, which is always a good sign. Do you girls mind if I steal your friend for a little while?"  
  
"As long as you bring her back in one piece," smiled Darby. "And not covered in mud, like the last time."  
  
Silas's wide face broke into a grin. "Hey, I take no responsibility for that. Mariah just slipped while trying to knock me into the pond. She should have known better than to try to pull one on me."  
  
"That's not fair, Silas! You know very well that was retaliation for charming my hair red and gold. I didn't fancy walking around looking like a Gryffindor all morning until someone bothered to tell me why everyone was laughing!" The smile on her face gave lie to her words, she knew, but this was a game they'd played for years.  
  
"Enough, wench, we'll be going back and forth for hours if we try to trace who pulled the first prank. Come on, you," and he threw her over his shoulder like a sack of flour and headed outside, her banging on his back all the way.  
  
"Nice caveman tactics, Mr. Cloverleigh." Mariah said, shaking her head as he gently set her down by a tree. "I'll be hearing about that for a month, thank you very much."  
  
"You like the attention and you know it, 'Riah. Besides, I wanted to talk to you." He sat down beside her. "Your name has come up a lot recently in the Gryffindor Common Room."  
  
Mariah sighed. "Let me guess. Sirius Black."  
  
Silas looked a little surprised. "So you know then. I wasn't sure."  
  
"I know he's been making a pest of himself, following me around and watching me, and bullying my friend. Is there something else I ought to know?"  
  
"Friend? Or boyfriend?" Silas was watching her carefully.  
  
"Friend. Don't tell me you believe those ridiculous rumors too? Severus and I are just friends, and that's all we're likely to be." Mariah was starting to tire of explaining this to all of her friends, why did Silas have to bother her about it as well?  
  
"I don't know about rumors, 'Riah, I just know what I've heard Black and his pals saying. Black constantly raves about how you're throwing yourself away on a 'slimy Slytherin git' and how he must have slipped you a love potion or something." Silas shook his head. "I hate to say bad things about a fellow Gryffindor, but I'd be careful of him, 'Riah, he talks like a man obsessed. Thinks he's going to save you or something."  
  
Mariah snorted in response. "Well, he has another think coming if he bothers me again. I've told him to his face I want nothing to do with him, if he keeps on with it I'll have to take more drastic measures."  
  
Silas chuckled at that. "He'd better watch his step then. You're lethal when you're angry."  
  
"Oh, Silas, you've never seen me angry." she smiled, then frowned. "But thank you for the warning. I knew Black was nutters but I didn't know how much so."  
  
"If he bothers you again, tell me. I'll have a little chat with him," said Silas ominously.  
  
"That won't be necessary," Mariah laughed. "I can handle him in my own way."  
  
Mariah stood, brushing stray grass from her robes. "I'd better head back before Darby sends out a search party. And you know, Silas, you don't need a reason to come say hello. Unless it hurts your image with the ladies, talking with a measly fourth year Hufflepuff!" She winked and ran back to the castle, leaving Silas to watch her departure with a smile.  
  
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As it turned out, Mariah and Severus were not the only students in need of field research. Remus Lupin and his Ravenclaw partner, Cassandra Thornbridge, needed to collect samples for their project as well. Professor Samling arranged for the five of them (as well as Professor Samling's wife Eleanor) to Floo to a Wizard pub in the Cornwall area the next Saturday, where the students could do their research while the Samlings enjoyed a picnic at the beach.  
  
After arriving in Perranporth and arranging with the Professor to meet up again in the afternoon, the four students set off toward the wilderness outside of town, where the flowers grew freely. Mariah chatted easily with Remus and Cassandra, though she knew neither well. Severus stayed silent, despite Mariah's several attempts to include him in the conversation. "I think we should head towards the coast now, Remus," said Cassandra. "We're far enough out that we should start seeing signs of Castanae Caeruleus nearer the shoreline."  
  
"Right. See you back in Perranport, Mariah," he said warmly, then nodded curtly to her companion. "Snape."  
  
Mariah turned to Snape, "We should follow the treeline a ways. We're most likely to find G.S. right along the edge anyway."  
  
Snape nodded and began walking, eyes fixed downward, focused on the task. Mariah followed along, saying nothing.  
  
After a half hour of silence without any sign of G.S., Mariah spoke. "I know you're not particularly talkative at the best of times but you're even quieter than normal today. Severus, is something wrong?"  
  
"No," he answered shortly, and kept on with his task.  
  
"Whatever you say," she replied, following along.  
  
A few more minutes of silence followed. Snape, apparently surprised that Mariah hadn't prodded further into his foul mood, decided to enlighten her. "How can you be so friendly with that sidekick of Black's?"  
  
"Remus? I like Remus, he's always been pleasant to me. His choice of friends leaves something to be desired, but then again, some would say the same thing about me." She looked pointedly at him.  
  
"Hmph." Severus kept his eyes pointed to the ground, refusing to concede her point but not arguing further.  
  
After several more minutes he dropped to his knees. "I think we've found it."  
  
Mariah knelt beside him. Sure enough, amongst the weeds and clovers was a small patch of fuschia flowers, with velvety purple leaves. "Nicely done, Severus. Let's get to work, shall we?"  
  
The pair set to their task, collecting samples of the soil, the dew still clinging to blades of grass, and carefully extracting some of the plant itself. Mariah used the Herbae Adservo charm to preserve the plant until they got it back to the lab, while Severus used various potions he'd brought to test the air composition.  
  
They had been working for about an hour. Severus was performing a test on one of the flowers in the ground when he felt a stabbing pain in his hand. "Ouch!"  
  
"What is it?" Mariah asked in concern. They looked to see a small scarlet and yellow striped bee buzzing angrily around the plant. The pair stood in alarm.  
  
"It must be marking its territory," said Mariah. "Are you all right?"  
  
"Aside from the stinging pain in the back of my hand, I'm fine." Severus began rifling through his pack with his good hand. "And this time, I came prepared." He extracted a small vial and handed it to Mariah. "Would you do the honors?"  
  
She opened the vial, which contained a small dropper. She took Severus' hand and started squeezing droplets onto the red, swelling wound. "That's enough," he said.  
  
"What is it?" Mariah asked.  
  
"It's a mixture of palliative and anti-toxin. When quickly applied to a bite or sting, it neutralizes any non-blood fluid it encounters and numbs the pain. It has to be applied within one minute of the injury, however, or it has no effect."  
  
"I'm glad you brought it along. I don't know whether those bees are poisonous or not."  
  
"I'm sure they are," Snape said wryly. "at least to me." When Mariah looked questioningly back at him he continued. "They're striped like a Gryffindor scarf."  
  
She burst out laughing. "Oh, you're right. Truly a good thing you were prepared then. Is it working?"  
  
"I can't feel a thing," he replied and looked down at his hand. Her eyes followed; she was still holding his hand. She quickly let go and stood.  
  
"Nonetheless, I think that was a sign. We should head back. We might even have time for a bite before we meet the others." Mariah began packing up their supplies.  
  
"Better a bite than another sting," Snape commented. Mariah chuckled, happy that despite his misfortune Severus' mood had greatly improved since earlier that morning. After they finished packing, the two headed back towards town, discussing casually the tests they'd perform when they returned to the lab. 


	11. Chapter 11

Maybe Snape had enchanted him as well, thought Sirius as he stared at Mariah's back during their Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Try as he might, he could not get the Hufflepuff out of his mind. She inhabited his dreams, plagued his daydreams, and it seemed every time he left the Gryffindor common room, there she was laughing with her girlfriends or accompanied by her Slytherin shadow. He'd not approached either of them since that morning in the corridor when Mariah had sided with Snape against him. He had no desire for a repeat of that performance. He knew he must bide his time until the opportunity arose, the opportunity to deflate Snape once and for all in Mariah's eyes and then to pick up the pieces for himself.  
  
Until then, he would just observe. Right now, he was observing the adorable way Mariah tugged at a curl as she stared at her quiz parchment. The routine was always the same; she'd poke one finger up the center of the curl, grasp it, then pull down and *boink*. Oh, how he longed to do that himself, and so much more. Sirius' mind wandered in the direction so irresistible to teenage boys, occupying his thoughts for the remainder of the class period, his unfinished quiz forgotten.  
  
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They'd settled into a comfortable pattern, Mariah realized as she stirred the contents of the cauldron in front of her. Every evening after supper, Severus and Mariah ventured together to the potions dungeon to continue their research. Although they by no means shared each other's confidence, they'd become accustomed to a gentle camaraderie. Severus might make a witty observation about one of their professors, or Mariah might predict Hufflepuff's certain victory over Slytherin in the upcoming Quidditch match (this assertion Severus found quite humorous, since Hufflepuff had not beaten Slytherin in over three years.) Mariah's friends would have been quite surprised to learn that much laughter accompanied her study sessions with the dreaded Slytherin.  
  
Tonight, Severus stood across from her, on the other side of the table, carefully adding aliquots of reagent to the mixture. Mariah watched Severus' careful movements and admired the precision with which he worked. She herself was somewhat clumsy, although her friends would charitably call it awkward, so she always struggled with the more complex potions. There was no awkwardness in Severus' hands though, he handled his ingredients with the steadiest of hands. Mariah was drawn to competence almost as much as she admired those willing to work hard to achieve their dreams. She sensed both of these qualities in Severus, and sensed them in abundance. Some people had arrogance, assuming that they would always be successful, but did not have the drive to ensure it would happen. She knew Severus did, and she found herself drawn towards that aspect of his personality.  
  
It was kind of ironic, she thought while engrossed in the sight of his hands at work. She'd spent weeks convincing her friends, quite honestly, that there was nothing between herself and Severus besides the herbology project. Now she found herself almost wishing there was. She blushed at the thought.  
  
She must have giggled as well, for Severus lifted his head and cocked one eyebrow, enquiring, "Something amusing you? Pray tell, won't you?"  
  
Mariah shook her head, "Nothing worth sharing, just thinking back to a conversation I had earlier."  
  
"Girls," Severus shrugged, and returned his attention to his work.  
  
Relieved he'd accepted her explanation, Mariah continued stirring. Her thoughts eventually wandered back to their previous path. What would her friends say if they knew she fancied Severus Snape? After they dragged her to the infirmary for an examination and teased her mercilessly for awhile, they'd most likely accept it - none of them were much for holding grudges. As for the rest of the school, she doubted they'd much notice. Sure, the Slytherins had made some noise at the beginning of the term, but that had waned long ago. Some probably assumed that the two of them were already involved in a relationship but the novelty had long since worn off. Probably the only two people in the school would have any interest at all - Silas, for he would love another excuse to tease her, and that obnoxious Sirius Black. She certainly didn't care what he though, in fact it would serve him right were all his ridiculous insinuations to actually become true. (Not about her having been enchanted of course, just about her becoming Severus' girlfriend.) She stifled another giggle, knowing she didn't want to try to explain away her amusement again.  
  
Not successful. Severus looked up again and smirked at her. "You certainly are entertaining yourself well tonight. Good thing you've got the easy part and just have to stir, or we'd never finish," he teased.  
  
"Sorry," she apologized, feeling her cheeks redden again. His eyes actually twinkled when he smiled. Too bad he didn't smile more often, but then again, it was kind of nice that his smiles seemed to be reserved just for her.  
  
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"Now we wait," Severus announced to his companion, who was focusing hard on her task. "You can stop stirring now."  
  
He saw Mariah blush again. What was with her tonight? She kept on giggling, with no desire to share the source of her amusement. If she were anyone else, Severus would have naturally assumed she was laughing at him. But somehow he did not think that was the case. Mariah had proven her loyalty of sorts when she'd tore into Black. He still didn't understand her seeming fondness for him, not really, but he attributed it to her Hufflepuff character and perhaps uncommonly good sense at seeing Black for what he was, something most others seemed incapable of doing.  
  
"I'm going to the ladies, I'll be back in a few minutes," Mariah informed him as she departed. Severus took himself to Professor Fellis' desk and seated himself behind it. The Herbology Project had been proving trickier than he'd anticipated. Despite their methodical investigations, they'd still not discovered anything useful. Part of Severus was frustrated - failure was just not something he accepted. Another part though was exhilarated by the mental exercise; it was so rare for him to be challenged intellectually, he'd try to focus on that latter emotion.  
  
Their trip to Cornwall had not proved as fruitful as they'd hoped. They'd still not found any explanation for the ailing Graminis at Hogwart's. Severus walked back to the cauldron and peered in, groaning inwardly at the sight. The mixture was black. No change, ergo, another failed trial.  
  
Mariah strolled back in, stifling a yawn. "Any luck, Severus?"  
  
"None," he replied. "Yet again, no indication of a problem."  
  
"Argh!" Mariah's frustration was palpable. "What are we missing?"  
  
"I haven't a clue, but we are definitely missing something." Severus threw himself into the nearest chair.  
  
"You don't think Professor Samling would have given us an impossible problem, do you?" Mariah hypothesized.  
  
Severus shook his head, "Doubtful. Although I wouldn't put it past him to assign us a problem with an unknown solution. Perhaps he assigned it to us because he hadn't figured it out yet for himself, and wanted to save himself some effort."  
  
"Maybe he wanted to spend more time with his lovely wife," Mariah joked in response. "Although laziness is not generally a Hufflepuff characteristic."  
  
"There's a first time for everything," Severus shot back before becoming serious again. "Whatever his motivations, we have no choice but to go back to the meadow and try again to find what we've overlooked. Unless we want to fail Herbology, which I certainly do not, we have to keep trying until we succeed."  
  
"Agreed. But next time we go out, do try harder not to get bitten or stung, you have been rather unlucky that way," Mariah's voice trailed off and she stood there in her own reverie of thought.  
  
"What is it?" Severus asked.  
  
Mariah stood a moment without responding, then looked up to return Severus' gaze. "The bees," she said simply.  
  
The bees. The bees had been extremely aggressive down in Cornwall, but were they in the meadow here at Hogwart's. Severus thought hard. He'd seen some bees down at the meadow but they'd been unremarkable and certainly nothing like the one that had stung him. "The bees," he repeated, nodding his comprehension.  
  
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The next day, as soon as classes ended Mariah and Severus raced down to the meadow where the Graminis lived. They searched for the bees, and finally found some flying around a patch of colaflowers, but they showed no interest in the Graminis Socialis.  
  
"We should try to capture one," said Mariah. "If we take it down to Cornwall, we can observe how it reacts to a healthy GS. If it ignores the healthy plant as well, we will know there is something wrong with our bees rather than our plants.  
  
"Otherwise, we'll be back to square one," remarked Severus.  
  
Mariah cringed, "Let's just hope for the best. Do you want to. . ."  
  
Severus already had his wand raised and pointed at one of the bees. "Petrificus Totalus!" The bee stopped mid-flight and fell to the ground. Mariah carefully nudged it into a jar, sealing it along with some twigs and leaves before releasing the charm.  
  
"Let's go." They raced back to the castle, passing the bewildered Gryffindor Quidditch team on their way to practice. James Potter watched the pair with interest, relishing the story he would relate to torment his friend later that evening. 


	12. Chapter 12

After finding a larger container for the bee, complete with flowers, twigs and good ventilation, the duo discussed their plan to return to Cornwall.  
  
"I'm sure Professor Samling would take us again," reasoned Mariah. "I'm sure he wants us to pass his class."  
  
"True, but it wouldn't be soon enough," Severus argued. "If you recall, Samling has been mooning for days about the wedding he and his wife have to attend in Germany this weekend. We'll have to go ourselves, from Hogsmeade this weekend."  
  
"That could work," agreed Mariah. "Now that we know where to Floo and exactly where the GS lives down there, we could probably be there and back in a couple of hours."  
  
So the plan was hatched. The pair would sneak away from their respective crowds at Hogsmeade, meet at the HogsHead, and floo to Cornwall as before. Mariah anxiously awaited the weekend, not only because of her eagerness to solve the Herbology Project but also due to the thrill she felt at the idea of sneaking off with Severus. She told herself repeatedly that she had no evidence he saw her as anything but a friend, but Mariah was nothing if not an optimist. The fact that they were now friends was a miracle in itself, given the rocky start to their partnership, and it gave her hope for the future.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
Saturday finally arrived, and the students were all excited about their trip to Hogsmeade. Some students gathered in large groups, while others paired off for romantic excursions of their own. Severus followed a group of Slytherins, speaking with no one, merely tagging along inconspicuously. Mariah accompanied her usual friends, save for Erin who had a date with an older Hufflepuff boy for the day. When Mariah's crowd passed the Slytherin gang on their way to the Three Broomsticks, Mariah deliberately turned her gaze away from them in order to avoid seeing Severus. She didn't want to draw anyone's attention towards them, since it was imperative that no one see them leave Hogsmeade.  
  
The girls were among the first to arrive at the Three Broomsticks and picked a choice table by the window. A few moments later, Madame Rosmerta approached, her face warm and welcoming.  
  
"Good morning, ladies. It's always good to see the Hogwart's crowd again. What can I get for you today?"  
  
"Butterbeers all around," said Darby, knowing her friends' preferences. "and keep them coming!"  
  
Mariah figured she'd have stay for one drink before making an excuse to depart early. She'd already planned it, now she just had to execute that plan. She willed herself not to be nervous. She hated lying.  
  
"So, Darby, is our Quidditch team ever going to win a game? I'm tired of Silas taking all my money everytime Gryffindor beats us." Mariah enjoyed teasing Darby about their team's abysmal performance, since Darby accepted it with good grace.  
  
Darby laughed as she shook her head and replied "I wish I could tell you yes, but sadly one amazing beater does not a Quidditch team make. I think the Sorting Hat is out to get us, he smells Quidditch talent and sends it anywhere but Hufflepuff."  
  
"So then how did you end up a Badger, Darby?" giggled Brownwyn. "Seeing as you are a spectacular beater as you've said."  
  
"I think I threw him off by being a girl. There still aren't too many of us playing yet," she hypothesized. The others all laughed at this assessment and the conversation continued in much the same manner for several minutes.  
  
As Mariah gulped down the last of her butterbeer, she decided it was time for action. Steeling herself to sound genuine, she slapped herself on the forehead. "Oh no! I am such an idiot." She stood and removed her pack from the back of the chair. "I forgot to feed Mindy before I left this morning!"  
  
Mindy was her pet ferret. Her friends all knew she doted on Mindy, as they did their own familiars. Hopefully they'd find it plausible she'd leave a perfectly nice day in Hogsmeade to make sure her pet was well fed. She fished some coins from her bag and placed them on the table. "I'm going to run back and give her some food and then I'll come back and find you all. Sorry!"  
  
Bronwyn seemed to accept her excuse at face value, though Darby raised an eyebrow as she said "Hurry back, Mariah. . ."  
  
Mariah raced out the door and down back towards Hogwarts, then snuck around the back of the building so she could walk unseen to the HogsHead where Severus would be waiting for her.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Sirius, Remus, James, and Peter were inside Honeydukes picking out several weeks worth of goodies to tide them over until their next visit. Peter was in the back of the shop, trying to decide how many chocolate frogs to purchase, while James grabbed one of almost everything. Remus had already made his selection and was accompanying Sirius as he pondered his decision. The more chocolate, the better, thought Sirius.  
  
"There's your girl, Siri, wonder where she's going in such a rush?" Remus pointed out the window to where Mariah was running by.  
  
Sirius looked up and saw what Remus was talking about. "Here, I'll be right back." He handed the candy he'd chosen to Remus and bolted out the door.  
  
He didn't see her anywhere. How could she have just disappeared like that? Sirius jogged down the street, glancing in the shop windows he passed to see if she'd gone in anywhere. As he was passing between a barber shop and the owl post he saw her - running back in the direction she'd come, but behind the buildings!  
  
What is she up to, he wondered, cutting between the shops and heading around back. As soon as he came out behind the barber shop, he saw dive between two more buildings, back toward the street. "Looks like she's trying to avoid someone," he remarked to himself. Curiosity getting the better of him, not that he ever fought it, he quickly traced her steps. When he found himself back on the main street, he watched as she turned down a rundown side street. He followed her, silently, from a distance, as she looked around carefully then stepped into the HogsHead.  
  
Quite a bit of subterfuge just to go to the HogsHead, thought Sirius. He was just about to follow her in when he saw Snape, that greasy git, exit the building across from the HogsHead and follow arrogantly into the pub. This can't be a coincidence, grumbled Sirius. When will she see the truth about him, he despaired as he returned to Honeydukes to console himself in chocolate and his friends' company.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
"Perfect timing," Mariah greeted Severus as he entered the smoky pub. "Do you think you were seen?"  
  
Severus shook his head. "Doubtful. I was alone at Gladwell & Barnes, so there was no one to follow. You?"  
  
"No, I was very careful. My friends think I've gone back to Hogwarts to feed Mindy. My ferret."  
  
Snape grinned, "I would have thought you more of a bunny person than a ferret person."  
  
"You'd have thought wrong," she chastised. "Bunnies are boring. Sure, they're cute and fluffy but they have no personality, no ambition. Ferrets are more cunning and they work hard for what they want. You just have to be careful of their claws, for they're rather sharp."  
  
Interesting, thought Severus. Perhaps that's why she's willing to associate with a Slytherin. "I see, and stand corrected. Shall we?" He motioned toward the fireplace in the back of the pub, and then followed her to it. He pulled a small pouch from his robes, loosened the grasp and held it out to her. "Ladies first."  
  
She reached inside for a handful of Floo powder, then announced, "Norwich Brothers Pub, Cornwall," before stepping into the flames.  
  
After Severus followed Mariah through the Floo network, he shook the dust off his robes and commented, "We'd better hurry, we've got a bit of a hike."  
  
So the pair scurried off to where they'd found the Graminis Socialis the last time they'd come. The trip was much shorter the second time, since they knew exactly where they were going and did not have to move slowly, staring at the ground the whole time. In less than a half hour they found the plant they sought, and as before, there were several bees buzzing protectively around it.  
  
Severus watched as Mariah opened her pack and extracted the small jar containing the Hogwarts bee. "Here goes nothing," she said as she opened the lid.  
  
The bee flew right out of the jar and in circles for a moment, as it tried to recover its bearings. It flew close to the local bees, but did not engage them, and then dropped down to fly near the flowers of the Graminis plant. It hovered for a moment, and then flew away.  
  
"It appears our bee does not have an appreciation for the Graminis plant," commented Severus with a smile. "Thank Merlin!"  
  
Mariah agreed, "I think we now know why the plants are ailing. They need the pollination to prosper, but if the bees ignore them they can't get it."  
  
"This begs the question - how does one teach a bee to pollinate?" Severus queried. "One would think this is something they naturally desire to do."  
  
"I'm sure it is, for a normal, healthy bee. Unfortunately, there seems to be something wrong with ours. Unfortunately, I know next to nothing about bees, and haven't an idea how to affect their habits," sighed Mariah.  
  
Severus motioned for her to follow him. "We can discuss it on the way back. I'm sure between the two of us, we'll think of something."  
  
Rejuvenated by the breakthrough in their project, Severus began to enumerate a series of tests the two of them would perform on local bees when they returned. They would try a variety of potion and charm treatments to try to rekindle the bees' interest in the Graminis Socialis. With luck, they'd find a successful remedy and the plant would be cured. If not, they would have to be satisfied with reporting on the problem they'd isolated. Severus felt confident however that they'd find the cure. He rarely found an intellectual problem he couldn't solve, and didn't intend to start now. 


	13. Chapter 13

"Are you all right, Siri?" Remus eyed his friend with concern. "You're looking very pale."  
  
"She's meeting that damned Snivellus again," snapped Sirius. "And they're obviously up to something, because she sure took great pains not to be seen with him." He explained the convoluted journey Mariah had taken to the HogsHead, and how Snape had followed her in shortly after.  
  
Remus sighed, "They probably just wanted a little privacy, Sirius. I think you're making too much out of this."  
  
"Privacy? Somewhere to snog you mean," snorted Sirius.  
  
"Who's snogging?" asked Peter. He and James carried their new purchases in hand as they joined the conversation.  
  
"And can I join in?" laughed James.  
  
"I'll give you one hint," said Remus. "Take a look at Siri's face and you'll have no trouble figuring it out."  
  
The other boys laughed and Peter began singing, "Snape and Mariah sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-", at which point Sirius shoved him toward the wall and stormed out of the store, pushing past the older Gryffindor boy who was on his way out. James followed quickly behind.  
  
"Lighten up, Siri," he called as he caught up with his friend. "Sirius!"  
  
He clapped a hand on Black's shoulder and spun him around to face him. "Sirius, what is going on with you? You could have any girl within two years of us and you know it. Why are you becoming so unglued over a Hufflepuff who has, no offense, very little to recommend her. No, let me finish," he insisted as Sirius tried to interrupt. "I don't think this is about her at all. The Sirius Black I know wouldn't waste his time pining over a cream puff like Mariah Grougher, not with all the high quality Gryffindor tail to be had. The only reason you want her is to take her away from Snape."  
  
"No, don't deny it," James barked as Sirius tried to interject again, "I totally understand, seeing as I'd like to take him down a few pegs myself. But you're driving yourself nutters over her and we're all starting to worry about you. You have to let go already."  
  
Sirius just stared at him, no longer trying to interrupt, so James continued. "Why don't you go back inside, buy a whole mess of chocolate, apologize to poor Wormtail, and then we'll all go have some butterbeer. Come on," he motioned for Sirius to follow him inside.  
  
Sirius stared a moment longer, then moved to follow his friend. "You are so wrong," he muttered under his breath.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
"Have a nice trip?" Mariah had just stepped through the Floo when she heard the familiar voice tease her from just left of the fireplace. She whirled to face Silas Cloverleigh, casually draped across an armchair, sipping a butterbeer and reading a comic book. The Continuing Adventures of Solara Pearblossom and Gamit Greenbranch. Her favorite.  
  
"Can I borrow that when you finish, Si? I don't have that issue," she prevaricated.  
  
"Nice change of subject, 'riah. Where's your friend?" countered Silas just as Severus stepped out of the Floo. "Welcome back, children. I hope you, ahem, found whatever you were looking for."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean? And who in blazes are you?" Severus' eyes narrowed as he surveyed the older boy.  
  
Silas stood, dwarfing Mariah and towering several inches over Severus. "It means that I hope your trip was fruitful, since half of Gryffindor knows you met here today, and that you were trying (rather unsuccessfully I might add) to be surreptitious about it. As to your second question, " he rested a giant hand on Mariah's shoulder, "I'm Mariah's guardian angel."  
  
"You are no such thing," Mariah snipped as she shrugged out from under his grasp. "Severus, pay no attention to my very bossy and excessively overprotective neighbor, Silas Cloverleigh. He's quite enamored of playing the role of the older brother that I thankfully do not have."  
  
"You're quite mistaken, Mariah. I have no desire to be your brother," protested Silas.  
  
Severus looked back and forth between the two of them before drawling, "Charmed, I'm sure."  
  
Could be worse, thought Mariah. At least Severus didn't start snarling about idiot Gryffindors or something. Then her mind keyed into something Silas had said. "Wait a minute. . . what do you mean 'half of Gryffindor knows'?"  
  
Silas explained how he'd overheard Sirius' outburst at Honeyduke's. "It seems your stalker hasn't given up his quarry."  
  
Mariah heard something sounding suspiciously like a snort come from Severus' direction, but when she turned to glare at him his face was blank, the picture of innocence.  
  
"I came over to warn you that you'd been seen, and the proprietor was kind enough to inform me that the pair of you had floo'd away a few minutes previous. So I went down the street to get some light reading, then came back to await your return. I wanted to be the first person you saw when you came back so you'd be prepared."  
  
"Does anyone else know we left Hogsmeade?" asked Severus.  
  
Silas shook his head. "No one we know has come into the place after me. From what I could tell, Black's friends were attempting to convince him that he was acting like a fool."  
  
"Let's hope they succeeded!" exclaimed Mariah. "He is really starting to annoy me."  
  
"My offer still stands, 'riah. I'll be more than happy to have a little chat with him for you, housemate or no." Silas pounded a fist into his other hand at the word 'chat'.  
  
Mariah grabbed his arm, "No, I can handle it. No need to pummel the boy. I'm just glad they don't know we Floo'd away. You won't tell anyone, will you, Silas?" She looked up at her friend with what she hoped was her most charming smile.  
  
"Much as you deserve it, little wench, of course I won't tell. But as for you," he warned, wagging a finger at Severus, "Although I know it probably goes against your Slytherin nature, do not get her into any trouble again, or you'll have me to deal with."  
  
"I'm shaking in my shoes," replied Severus silkily, "however you may rest assured that I have no intention of getting her into trouble, as you put it."  
  
"Silas! Leave poor Severus alone! We were just working on our Herbology project, after all."  
  
Silas raised his eyebrows skeptically. "Is that what you young people call it these days? Now don't you start pouting, 'riah, I'll leave you to your. . . project. If anyone asks, you were here all afternoon, basking in the glow of each other's company. I won't be able to help you if you're late getting back to school though, I have no influence with your head of house." He turned to leave, then turned back, tossing something toward Mariah.  
  
She caught it instinctively, looking down to see the comic Silas had been reading. "Keep it," he said, "I've already finished." And then the large Gryffindor strolled out of the pub, leaving only Severus, who was looking at her slyly.  
  
"What are you looking at?"  
  
"We'd best be getting back, like your friend said." Severus gave no indication of what he found amusing.  
  
Mariah suddenly felt tired, and had no desire to dig deeper. "Right. I'll try to find my friends, they're probably still sitting at the Three Broomsticks trying to get one last butterbeer down before heading back. Back to the lab tomorrow?"  
  
Severus nodded, "I'll meet you down there after the Quidditch game." Hufflepuff was playing Ravenclaw tomorrow.  
  
"Splendid," she smiled. "I knew we'd figure it out eventually, you know."  
  
"That's the Hufflepuff in you talking. Slow and steady wins the race and all," he teased dryly, jumping out of the way as Mariah moved to smack him. "And that is my cue to leave. See you tomorrow, Hufflepuff."  
  
"I told you, my name is Mariah!" she called after him. Still grinning, she opened her pack to carefully place her new comic inside, and then set off in search of her friends.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
"I didn't want to ask in front of the others," Darby remarked as she and Mariah prepared for bed, "but what took you so long today? I can't imagine it would take you three hours to feed Mindy and get back to Hogsmeade."  
  
Mariah looked around the bathroom before answering in a whisper, "Severus and I went back to Cornwall."  
  
"You did WHAT?" Darby dropped her toothbrush in the sink. "Are you insane?"  
  
"Keep your voice down. Of course I'm not insane." Mariah told her friend how she and Severus had decided they didn't have time to wait for Professor Samling to take them again.  
  
Darby seemed unconvinced, "You certainly are insane. You could have been caught, which would have probably gotten you expelled, or at the very least a few weeks of detention."  
  
"You're being overdramatic, Darby, we didn't get caught so there's no sense in panicking about it now. Besides, it was worth it. We finally know what the problem is." Mariah had often bemoaned the problems she and Severus had been having on the project with her friends, so they were all well aware of how stumped they'd been.  
  
"Well, I'm glad to hear you didn't risk your schooling over nothing then. Now more importantly, how was your trip?"  
  
Mariah was confused by that question. "Didn't I just tell you?"  
  
"No, silly, did you and Severus have fun? Alone in the woods? Together?"  
  
Mariah sighed. Darby knew her too well; she never did believe Mariah's insistence that there was nothing going on between her and Severus. What could it hurt to confirm that her suspicions were wellfounded, on her part at least?  
  
She began running her comb through her thick curls and sighed, "It was nice, I guess. We joked around a bit when we were walking out to the woods like we always do."  
  
"Oooh, so you two joke around now, do you? Anything, um, more that that?" Darby prodded eagerly.  
  
"No, Darby, nothing 'more' than that. As I keep telling you, we're just friends."  
  
Darby met her eyes with her own shrewd gaze. "But you want it to be more, don't you. I can see it in your eyes."  
  
Mariah's hand came down from her hair and she returned Darby's stare. "Fine. Yes, I do wish it were more. But as it is not likely to happen, I'd prefer you not tell Brownwyn and Erin about it."  
  
Darby's eyes widened, "Of course not! You know I wouldn't ever break your confidence! But you should know they suspect it too."  
  
"Only suspect though, I'm sure. I'd like to keep it that way." The thought that her affections were unlikely to be reciprocated weighted down Mariah's mood. She didn't relish the idea of constantly being teased about the 'Slytherin boyfriend' she'd probably never had.  
  
Darby put an arm around Mariah's shoulders and gave her a squeeze, "Oh come now, why so glum? I think that just the fact that Snape 'jokes around' with you is an excellent sign. Why, I've never so much as seen him smile at anyone else."  
  
Mariah grinned reluctantly as she accepted Darby's comforting embrace. "You wouldn't believe how nice his smile is if I told you, Darby."  
  
"You're right, love, I probably wouldn't."  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
Sadly, Hufflepuff was soundly defeated 320-40 by Ravenclaw the next day. After consoling Darby and the rest of the team on their loss and ensuring them that "they'd surely win next time," Mariah gathered her things and headed for the potions dungeon. Severus was already waiting for her, mixing a foul smelling brew in the cauldron.  
  
"What is THAT?" she asked, wrinkling her nose.  
  
Severus laughed, "Don't be such a baby. You'll hardly notice the smell if you give it a minute. I did a little research last night on bees and I'm working on a reagent to test for chemical imbalances. Can you hand me that vial over there, I've got to keep stirring." He nodded towards the counter where a small vial was sitting.  
  
"Lucky I came in when I did, isn't it," she teased as she retrieved the small bottle.  
  
"Hardly," he drawled. "I just know you have a penchant for punctuality. I deduced that you would arrive in time to bring me the vial."  
  
"Ah, but did you anticipate that I might withhold the contents of said vial just to spite you?" Mariah stood a few feet away from the table, leaping back out of Severus' reach.  
  
He scowled, then said, "It's your herbology grade too, Hufflepuff, if you want to fail then by all means continue with your girlish games."  
  
A few months ago, Mariah wouldn't have noticed the gleam in Severus' eye that indicated his amusement despite his words. She decided to have pity on him. "Well, now that you mention it, I would rather pass, so here you go." She walked over to the table and gently handed the vial to him.  
  
"Many thanks," Severus drawled as he slowly poured the vials contents into the cauldron. As the fluids mixed the foul odor became less pronounced. "Now if you'd skipped the theatrics, I could have done that a few minutes earlier."  
  
Mariah laughed. "All right, I've learned my lesson. So what do we do next?"  
  
"You won't like this part," he cautioned. "We'll have to sacrifice one of the bees to get a tissue sample to mix in with the reagent. From that we'll be able to see what's wrong with the bee. I hope."  
  
"Lucky for me I'm not particularly fond of bees, so sacrifice away." Mariah felt a twinge of guilt for her cavalier attitude toward the bee's welfare, but only for a moment.  
  
Severus walked to the supply cabinet and extracted a small dropper bottle and a slightly larger spray bottle. "This should do the trick." He filled the spray bottle with water then squeezed several drops from the other bottle in. After replacing the cap and shaking it gently several times, he moved to where the makeshift bee-cage was resting on the counter. He opened the door and quickly sprayed; the bee dropped motionless to the bottom of the cage. Using a small scoop, he extracted the bee from the cage and then used a razor to cut a slice out for the tissue sample, which he then placed into a beaker. Returning to the cauldron, he scooped a small amount of reagent into the beaker where it began to sizzle.  
  
"Now what?" Mariah asked.  
  
"Now we wait. We'll come back tomorrow and I'll be able to perform all sorts of tests using this mixture." Severus covered the beaker and placed it in a cabinet. "I know how fond you are of waiting, but there it is."  
  
"Right then. Until tomorrow!" Mariah smiled.  
  
Severus smiled back. "Until tomorrow!" And then they both left the dungeon and went their separate ways. 


	14. Chapter 14

Warning – excessive profanity at the end of this chapter!  But not without cause. . .

"Merlin's beard, I think I've got it," murmured Severus as the mixture before him turned blue a third time.  He'd repeated the test several times to be certain of his findings, and now he was.

Mariah bounded in the door, tossing her bag on a chair before scurrying towards him.  "Sorry I'm late, Professor Flitwick kept the class late today.  What did I miss?"

"Only the break we've been waiting for, nothing too important," Severus grinned.

"Really!  Do tell!"  Mariah was practically bouncing in anticipation.  Severus considered prevaricating just to tease her, but pride in his accomplishment won out.

"The bees have a hormonal imbalance.  It's causing them to lack interest in pollinating, thus they are ignoring the Graminis and the Graminis cannot thrive," bragged Severus.  "I've run the test three times, I'm quite confident in the results."

Mariah giggled, "So basically what you're telling me is the bees 'aren't in the mood for love.'"

"I suppose you could put it that way."  Severus reddened, unaccustomed to hearing girls speak of 'love' in his presence.

"Well then," theorized Mariah, "it sounds like we need to brew a love potion."

Severus rolled his eyes.  "Bees don't 'love', Mariah."

"All right, a lust potion then.  Surely it won't be any trouble for you, being the potion master's apprentice and all."

"I'm not really his apprentice," Severus felt his blush increase under the praise.

"You know what I mean, Sev.  Can you do it?"

Severus nodded.  "I believe so."

"Excellent!  I knew I was right to work on this project with you!  How long do you think it will take," asked Mariah.

"That depends," he answered hesitantly.

"Depends on what?"

"Whether you'll be around to chop and stir for me," smirked Severus.

Now it was Mariah's turn to roll her eyes.  "Of course I'll be helping!  It is a team project, after all!"

"Well, now that that's settled, I'm going to the library to begin researching how one might alter a lust potion to bee physiology," Severus began walking toward the door.

"What should I do?" Mariah called after him.

Severus turned and grinned, "You can clean up in here!" before running out the door, leaving a laughing Mariah shaking a fist at him from behind.

­­­­­­­­­­**********************************************************************

After he found the books he required, Severus left the library in search of a more secluded reading spot.  As he passed through the halls though, he noticed several of the prefects hanging banners advertising the coming Yule Ball.  He took little interest, never having been one for dancing and parties, and continued on his way.

He snorted to himself as he passed his least favorite Gryffindors huddled together on his way out the door.  For once, they hadn't noticed him, they seemed too engrossed in their conversation.  Curiosity piqued, Severus turned the corner and stood, out of sight but within earshot.

"I'm going to ask Lily, of course," said Potter. "Did you doubt it?"

"I don't doubt you'd ask, Prongs, but I doubt she'd accept," teased Lupin.

Potter laughed, "You mock me!  I can be very persuasive when I want to be."

"Maybe so, but Lily's not so easily persuaded.  And you can't deny you're not her favorite person."

"She doesn't hate me that much!  I think she only mildly dislikes me!  Speaking of hating, Siri, are you still dangling after that pudgy Hufflepuff that can't stand the sight of you?" taunted Potter.

"I'm going to take her to the Yule Ball.  And don't call her pudgy," snapped Black.

His friends all started laughing.  Pettigrew replied, "Does she know you're taking her yet?"

"Of course she doesn't," laughed Potter. "I bet she thinks she's going with Snivellus.  And honestly, they deserve each other."

Severus heard a scuffle, followed by Black's vitriolic words. "You don't even know her, so stop insulting her.  By insulting her, you insult me, and I'm getting tired of it.  I _will take Mariah to the Yule Ball, you mark my words."  And then he saw Black storm past, still unaware of his presence._

"Poor Siri, he's got it bad," said Lupin sadly.  

"Do you think she'll go with him to the Ball," Peter asked doubtfully.

Severus' eyes narrowed as he muttered to himself, "Not a chance, Pettigrew." Sensing the interesting conversation had ended, Severus made his way back to his dorm.  No way in Hades would he let Black take Mariah to the Yule Ball.  Why, he'd take her himself before he let that happen!  Yes, he might just do that.

**********************************************************************

Days went by and soon the research was complete.  Mariah and Severus met in the dungeons for what they hoped would be their last experimental session.  The potion he'd developed wasn't all that complicated, they'd done the preparatory work the night before and tonight they would complete the potion and test it on a captive bee and a potted GS they'd harvested earlier.

"So here we are," said Mariah ominously as she and Severus stood in front of the bee's cage.  "The moment of truth."

"Here goes nothing," said Severus as Mariah removed the binding charm and he sprayed the bee with the potion.

The two watched as the bee tried to shake the liquid off itself, then started flying around as before.  Several minutes passed, yet the bee only circled.

"How long should it take," asked Mariah tentatively.

Snape shrugged, "I'm not quite sure."

Just then the bee noticed the small Graminis plant a meter away.  It flew toward it, uncertain at first, then settled comfortably on one of the flowers for a moment before flying on to the next.

"You did it!" shouted Mariah, throwing her arms around Severus.  Several seconds passed before she noticed that Severus was standing very stiff and still in her grasp. She jumped back as if burned. 

"I'm sorry," she stuttered.  "I guess I got a little too excited."

An uncomfortable silence filled the room.  Severus stood still, staring at the floor.  Mariah took another step back and tried to salvage the situation.  She overcompensated by babbling rapidly, "Well, we'll need to treat all the bees we can find in the meadow.  I can do that alone if you'd prefer, give you time to write up the methodology you used in the potion.  I think we can each have our sections of the report written by Friday, don't you?  And then we can meet to integrate them and then we'll be done."

Severus just nodded, still observing his shoes.

"Great then.  Excellent work. . .I'll just be going now." And Mariah raced out of the room.

Severus looked up after she left and began cursing himself.  "Smooth, Severus.  You sure have a way with the ladies, don't you?"

He'd just been so shocked, having never been hugged before, that he froze.  It was actually rather nice, except for the surprise part.  If he'd been expecting it, he was certain he'd have done better.

He'd probably offended her, though.  Merlin knows how badly he'd have felt had she reacted that way to his embrace.  He would make it up to her, though.  He'd be extra charming when he asked her after supper tonight to please be his date for the Yule Ball.

**********************************************************************

"So Snape concocted a lust potion for bees? Wow!" Darby and Mariah were chatting outside the Great Hall before dinner, sharing the day's events. "I wonder how that would work."

Mariah laughed. "Don't ask me, he's the potions genius.  I just chop and stir.  And clean up messes."

"It's good to feel important, isn't it," grinned Darby. "But then again, you contributed a lot to the project earlier, so I think you're probably pretty even."

"I suppose.  I'm not really concerned about it.  I'm just so excited we FINALLY finished the project, not to mention helped the poor GS recover. . ."

"And then there's you and Snape," finished Darby.

Mariah blushed, "Well, there is that too."

"Have you thought about the Yule Ball yet?"

"What do you mean," asked Mariah.

"Maybe you should go with Snape," suggested Darby to Mariah's surprised response.  "Since you've spent all this time working together and all."

Mariah laughed and shook her head, "I'm afraid it would take a stronger lust potion than even Severus can brew to make that happen."

The girls laughed together for a few moments before Mariah continued, sighing, "He doesn't see me in that way.  I mean, he practically fled when I made the mistake of hugging him earlier.  I was mortified!  No, to Severus I'm sure I'm just a silly little Hufflepuff."

Darby put an arm around her friend and gave her a gentle squeeze.  "I'm sure you're overreacting.  He was probably just shocked, that's all.  I mean, I doubt the boy gets hugged every day, and by such a wonderful girl as you"

Mariah gave a little smile, "You could be right.  I don't want to get my hopes up though."

"I know, love.  But I have a feeling that he likes you more than you think he does."

**********************************************************************

Severus took extra care with his appearance as he changed for supper.  He took a rare before-supper bath and washed his hair twice through, and spent double the usual time brushing his teeth.  Although none of his robes were particularly nice, he chose the least frayed of the lot to wear that evening.

He couldn't stop berating himself for his offish handling of her affection this afternoon.  She'd hugged him, something that even his own parents never did.  She'd given him a gift that he'd effectively thrown back at her with his lack of response.  But he would make it up to her tonight.

Severus' spirits were high as he headed for the Great Hall.  He doubted he'd eat much, as excited as he was.  A little nervous, for he wasn't certain she'd accept his invitation.  But she'd hugged him, and that must have meant something!

He came around the corner and saw Mariah talking to one of her friends outside the door.  Oh no!  He wasn't ready to talk to her yet, his plan clearly dictated that they would speak AFTER dinner.  He jumped back around the corner and waited for them to go in.  But they weren't going in, they just stood there talking.  For the second time in recent memory, Severus found himself eavesdropping from around the corner.

"Well, there is that too."  Mariah was speaking, but he'd missed what was said before that.

"Have you thought about the Yule Ball yet?"  _Oh dear._

"What do you mean," asked Mariah.

"Maybe you should go with Snape," suggested Darby to Mariah's surprised response.  "Since you've spent all this time working together and all."  _Yes!  Listen to your friend!  She's obviously smart for a Hufflepuff!_

Mariah laughed and shook her head, "I'm afraid it would take a stronger lust potion than even Severus can brew to make that happen."

And then both girls laughed at him.  Sickened, Severus turned and stumbled back towards his rooms.  The nervousness he'd felt earlier coalesced into a nausea that one feels when one is brutally scorned.  He tried not to vomit as he moved, in a daze toward the Slytherin dorms.

_"It would take a stronger lust potion than even Severus can brew to make that happen."_

Damn her!  He'd trusted her, she'd tricked him into thinking she was his friend and then she says _this_!  He didn't expect she was in love with him or anything, but to say what she said, that was just evil.  Evil Hufflepuff bitch.  He should have known that it was too good to be true, that he ever would find a real friend.  She and her friends must have laughed after she defended him to Black, did she think he was a charity case or something?  

He muttered the password, then kicked the door closed behind him.  No sign of Winslow.  He threw himself onto the bed and clutched his pillow to him, tight.

He didn't need her, he didn't need anybody.  And he'd be damned if he ever trusted a girl again.  

She would pay.  Severus didn't know how, and he didn't know when, but he would make her pay.

Damn her.  And damn Sirius Black.  He was welcome to her, the faithless whore.

Thanks to all my reviewers!  I hope this turn of events, though it may be shocking, doesn't scare anybody off!

Makalani Astral – Unfortunately, although the former may occur, the latter is a bit problematic!  At least for this story (wait for the sequel!)

KarenDetroit – I'm glad you think so!  I've always seen Sirius as very arrogant and sure of himself and more than a little obsessive.

I like angst – I can definitely promise the slap in the face, but not about Remus!

Bladefanatic – Yes, she is.  And no bad deed goes unpunished (as Severus has now found out, though he doesn't see it that way!)


	15. Chapter 15

Something was wrong, thought Mariah as she made her way to the library to study.  Severus had been avoiding her all day.  At first she thought she must be imagining it, that he must not have heard when she called out to him after breakfast.  By lunch time, he'd avoided her gaze in the halls twice as well and during Potions, he kept his head uncharacteristically aimed toward his notes, without so much as looking up the entire period.  He was definitely upset about something.

"Mariah. . .wait up. . ."  She turned around only to groan at the sight of Sirius Black jogging toward her.  Just what she needed.

"What do you want, Sirius," she sighed, not really caring one way or the other.

"I. . .I was wondering if you had a date yet.  For the Yule Ball."  

"Were you, now?" she asked dryly before walking away.

He grabbed her arm, "No wait, please."

Mariah yanked her arm out of his grasp, yet didn't try to walk away again. 

"Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. I just. . .I'd really like to take you to the Yule Ball."  Sirius sounded almost nervous, thought Mariah.  Was this a new tactic?  
  


She shook her head and answered not unkindly, "I'm sorry, Sirius, but I've got other plans."  She may not like the chap, but she didn't want to be rude.

"Let me guess," he sneered, all signs of hesitance gone from his face. "You're going with Snape."

"I knew it," Mariah snapped back, her ire rising.  "It's always about Severus.  If I thought that your constant badgering had anything to do with your actually liking _me_ as opposed to your hating Severus and the fact that I prefer his company to yours, I might actually consider it."

He reached out to grab her hand again, but she shook him off. "Just stay away from me already.  Go find someone who cares."

She strode off back toward the library, fuming at Black's nerve.  When he first had started showing an interest in her, she was flattered despite her disinterest.  She had wondered though what about her had attracted him, for as she'd told him they had little in common, and Mariah did not delude herself that she was a beauty.  As time passed and she observed his behavior around Severus and his obvious obsession with the idea that the two of them were a couple, his behavior started making sense, albeit in a very unflattering way.  She was just a means to an end, a way to hurt Severus yet again.  As if he hadn't done enough over the years.

Damn him, she thought before she plopped down at an empty table and turned her thoughts to her homework.  He must be truly sick to try to use a person that way.

*******************************************************************

The writing really was the worst part of a project, Mariah was convinced.  It was nearly midnight, and she was still working on finishing up her part of the Herbology project writeup.  She fought to keep from yawning as she started on the next page of parchment.  She'd probably be up another hour at least.

Tap-tap-tap.  Mariah turned to the window to see Severus's grumpy little black owl, Brutus, pecking at the window, parchment strapped to his leg.  She hurried to let the bird in before her roommates were disturbed, then retrieved the scroll carefully.  The owl gave her hand a sharp nip before flying of from whence he came.  

  
"Ow.  Friendly little bugger, isn't he," she muttered to herself as she opened the scroll and began to read.

"_Enclosed you will find my portion of the Herbology Project report.  I'm sure you will have no trouble integrating it with your own and turning it in by the appropriate deadline.  No further contact between us shall be necessary._

_S. Snape."_

Mariah fell back into her chair and reread the note, certain she must have read it wrong the first time.  A thousand emotions played out in her head as she realized that no, she'd read it quite right the first time.  Her heart pounded and stomach lurched as she passed through denial into horror, and from horror into anger and back into denial over the space of the next hour.  The same words kept moving through her mind, words of confusion, of not knowing why he would say such a thing, of _how dare he_ say such a thing.  She had no idea what had brought on this sudden rush of antipathy, but knew it had to be a mistake.

She wanted to find him, to throw his nasty note back in his face and make him explain himself.  But she couldn't, she had no way of getting into the Slytherin dormitories.  The bastard must have planned it that way.  Unable to make herself study, she forced herself to turn off the light and crawl into bed, wand in hand.  After casting Silencio around herself, she gave in to the tears she'd been struggling to hold back.

***********************************************************************

She cornered him after Herbology the next afternoon, she'd followed his speedy departure from the room and began to pace him.  He tried to turn and walk the other way, but she followed, refusing to let him get away.  She followed him all the way down to the Potions dungeon, where he suddenly stopped and turned towards her, his face a snide mask of disgust.

"Pray tell me, Hufflepuff, what part of 'No further contact between us shall be necessary' did you not understand?  Do you need me to put it in smaller words for you?  How's this?  Get the hell away from me."  He turned and strolled toward the back of the room and started pulling out ingredients, as if to start working.

Swallowing her shock, Mariah followed right after him, "What the devil is wrong with you?  What did I do?  Was it the hug?  I'm so sorry about that, I only . . ."

"Did I say you did something, Hufflepuff?  I think not," he interrupted, still pulling bottles down from the shelves.  "I merely implied I no longer have need of your presence."

"No need of my . . . I don't understand. . ."

The Slytherin sneered, rolling his eyes.  "What's to understand, Hufflepuff?  I don't want to talk to you.  I don't want to see you.  Your existence is no longer relevant to me."

"But I thought. . .I thought we were friends, Severus. . .I mean, we'd been getting along and all, and you. . . you smiled at me."  Why was he saying these horrible things?  She can't have imagined their growing friendship, could she?

"You Hufflepuffs are all so bloody gullible," he jeered. "Fine, since you want me to spell it out for you, I will.  You've served your purpose, and I have no further use for you.  You served it quite brilliantly, I must admit and give compliments where they are due.  Not for your contributions to the Herbology project, of course, as your contributions there were quite minimal.  But I have to hand it to you, you were absolutely amazing with Black." 

Her jaw dropped. "With _Black?  What does he have to do with . . ."_

"You still don't get it, do you?  Sirius Black thinks that he's better than me, and it really stuck in his craw that I would have a girl when he didn't.  So when I realized that he thought you and I were. . .an item. . .I knew I had him right where I wanted him.  You never wondered why all of a sudden I loved being seen with you in public?  Certainly you didn't think it was because I liked you?  As if I would actually want to lower myself by associating with a stupid cow of a Hufflep-"

Mariah watched with satisfaction as Severus' head swung back sharply when she slapped him.  He raised a hand to his reddened cheek and stared down on her.

"Don't call me Hufflepuff," she sneered before turning and walking out of the room as gracefully as she could make her legs carry her through their shaking.  The sound of his laughter followed her as she ran down the corridor, tears streaming down her cheeks.

She ran, barely able to see, back toward the safety of her Common room, nearly knocking into a large object as she did so.

"'Riah, what's wrong?"  She stopped and turned towards the large object, which turned out to be her Gryffindor neighbor.  Her chin wavered at the concerned look in his eyes and she threw herself into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.  He took her in his arms, holding her head to his chest with one hand, the other around her back, bringing her close.   She felt his fingers stroking her curls as he murmured gently to her. "Easy, now. It's all right."

The tenderness in his voice only made her sob harder, but Silas just held her, tight but gentle, and let her cry.  Mariah didn't know how long she stood weeping in his arms before she finally pulled back, wiping her face with the sleeve of her robe.

"I'm sorry," she blubbered.  "I. . .thank you.  For letting me. . .you know."

"S'okay," he replied, one arm still around her waist.  "That's what your giant teddy bear of a neighbor is here for."  

He paused, looking down at her inquiringly.  "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I don't think I can," she sniffed.  "I don't even want to think about it."

"Did somebody. . .hurt you?" Silas asked, his arm tightening around her as his jaw clenched. "If they did, I swear I'll . . ."

"No!" Mariah assured him, "Not physically, anyway."

His arm relaxed, though his eyes were still questioning.  "Black?"

"No, I. . .I really don't want to talk about it. It's just. . ." Mariah felt the tears coming on again.  "I feel like such a fool."

"You are definitely not a fool, love," Silas chided gently, hugging her close again.  "And I would know.  I mean, you've got the good sense to be friends with me, after all, and I'd never be friends with a fool."

Mariah couldn't help but laugh despite herself, Silas was really a dear to try to cheer her up.  "You must be right, Si.  Thanks."

She looked up at him, a sudden thought popping out into words before she could stop them.  "Would you go with me to the Yule Ball?"

Silas' eyes widened.  Mariah blushed and rambled on, "I'm sorry, you probably already have a date and even if you didn't you'd want to go with a real date, not out of sympathy with someone who might as well be your kid sister. Just forget I asked."

"Yes," he answered, looking at her strangely in a way she didn't recognize.  She must have really shocked him.

"Yes, I knew you'd already have a date. I'm such a . . ."

"No, I don't.  Already have a date," continued Silas slowly.  "The girl I wanted to go with went and found her own date before I could ask her."

"She did?" asked Mariah.  

Silas nodded, "She did.  So yes, I would be happy to go with you."

"You would?" Mariah smiled, hugging him again.  "You are the best!"

She wasn't sure what had come over her, asking Silas, after all he was much older and he was, well, Silas, but since he was apparently in need of a sympathy date too, it would work out just perfect.  Now neither one of them would have to go alone, and they'd both have a grand old time.


	16. Chapter 16

Mariah twisted around to try to get a glimpse of herself from the back through the mirror.  As a loose and comfortable robes type of girl, she felt very awkward and more than a little silly in the stiff, heavy ballgown she now wore.  She'd chosen an old style Empire waist gown in an attempt to camouflage some of her figure flaws, but now she wondered if it didn't just emphasize others.  Turning back to stand facing the mirror, Mariah tried to tug the daring neckline up just a bit.  She felt like she would fall out of the thing any minute.  She glanced over at Darby in frustration.

"Why did I let you talk me into this dress?  _If you've got it, flaunt it_, you said.  What was I thinking?"

Darby laughed as she fastened the buttons on her own slim white gown.  "You look wonderful, Mariah, I'd kiss old Kettleburn if I could get enough up top to fill a gown like that."

"That can be arranged," laughed Mariah, "I'm sure Professor McGonagall knows a spell for that we could use, and she might use it just to see the look on Kettleburn's face."

"Don't you dare!" Darby threatened. "That would be SO embarrassing!  Besides, I couldn't really do it.  Changing my center of balance might throw off my Quidditch game.  Not that it would matter."  Hufflepuff's team had continued to steadily in the standings.

The two girls laughed as they continued preparing, though Mariah couldn't help herself from continually trying to cover herself.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Mariah, stop!"  Darby retrieved her wand and aiming it at Mariah's chest, muttered an unfamiliar charm.  When Mariah looked down, the neckline of her gown had risen about a half inch.  "There.  You are in no danger of 'falling out' now, so please stop fiddling and help me with my hair."

Erin and Bronwyn bounded in just as they were finishing.  Although all the girls had dates, they wanted to go to the ball together.  Only Darby was accompanying a Hufflepuff, so she could meet her date over in the Common Room.  The others would have to meet their dates outside anyway.

After spending several minutes gushing over each others finery as young girls are often wont to do on occasions such as this, they departed.  Gareth, the Hufflepuff Keeper and Darby's date joined them in the Common Room, accompanied by several of his friends and their dates.  By the time they emerged from Hufflepuff Hall, they were a group of ten.  

"Ah, there you are, Erin!  I was beginning to think you'd gone on without me!"  Mariah was amused at the sight of Hogwart's Head Boy, Gryffindor Alexander Marston, pacing back and forth and acting so flustered over her friend.  Erin just had that effect on people.

"Of course not, darling," she cooed, taking his arm.  "We women always take a long time to put on our beautiful faces, you know."

Mariah looked around, trying to find her date.  Ah, there he was.  He stood casually leaning against the wall, as if the ensuing Yule Ball were an everyday occurrence and that he was accustomed to wearing the Regency era finery now adorning him.  His dress cape, the only wizarding garment he wore, hung behind him, revealing a crimson waistcoat atop gold pantaloons.  Mariah stifled a giggle, for the image Silas displayed was that of court buffoon, dressed to the nines for an evening at Almack's.  She knew him to well, and though she thought he would make an adequate court jester, buffoon was a bit beyond him.

At the sight of her he smiled and approached, holding up a small corsage.  "This is for you," he said as he moved to pin it gently above her left breast.  

"Thank you," she replied as she looked down to survey it.  He'd selected a simple posy of pimpernels, surrounded by delicate baby's breath.  "It's lovely."

"You're looking rather pretty yourself, 'Riah.  Not at all like the little urchin who used to play in my paddling pool."

Mariah laughed at the memory.  "I could say the same about you, Si… you clean up very nicely."

"I don't know about that," he retorted.  "I must admit I feel rather silly in this getup.  But a little bird told me that you would be dressing period so I thought it best to dress accordingly.  I wish I could say it suits me, but honestly I hope never to have to wear pantaloons again.  Next time perhaps we should try Ancient Greek…I'd wager togas are more comfortable."

"Oh, stop complaining, you!  You look quite the gentleman, only I'll know you for the knave that you are."  Mariah grinned and took his arm in hers, leading him toward the Great Hall.  "But I won't tell, because it was awfully generous of you to agree to escort me."

"Generous?  Hardly," he snorted and gave her a funny glance before smiling again.  "You're forgetting I've seen you dance, 'Riah.  I'm far safer with you than any of the Gryffindor gals, they'd trample my poor toes to pieces."

They walked arm in arm toward the Great Hall, lagging slightly behind the rest of the group as they chatted.  

"Our Head Boy seems quite taken with your friend, 'Riah.  He's spent the last week reminding everyone he could find that he was taking her to the Ball."

Mariah sighed, "It'll probably last about a week then, unfortunately.  She's a sweet girl but she tends to lose interest once they become too doting.  I really don't understand it."

"Some people are like that," shrugged Silas.  "Always wanting what they don't or can't have.  I can't understand it myself.  I'm more interested in the person involved than the act of conquest."

The image of Severus popped into Mariah's head and was quickly banished.  "Agreed."

They entered the Great Hall.  Professor Dumbledore and the rest of the staff had spared no efforts in transforming the Hall from a grand dining hall into a spectacular ballroom.  The ceiling, charmed to appear as the starry night sky, was also strung with spectacular strings of light.  Silver candelabras hung throughout the room below and between the reams of velvet curtaining the walls.  The left side wall was lined with tables bearing all sorts of refreshments; cakes, pies, biscuits, and several different flavors of punch and the ubiquitous butterbeer.  Small round tables dotted the right side of the room, and several groups of students were already congregated there.  A small group of musicians gathered up on the dias where the head table usually stood, playing the latest in wizarding pop music.  And in front of the musicians, the whole center of the hall had been lined with a softly glowing dance floor.  

Few students were dancing yet, for the ball had just begun.  Mariah recognized some of the older students with 'well established' relationships already dancing, as well as some very awkward looking students from her own year, but the majority of the students were standing along the edge of the dance floor or sitting at the tables.

"Shall we?" asked Silas, holding out his other hand to her.

Of course he's not nervous, thought Mariah.  He's been to a ball before and besides, Mariah had never known him to be nervous about anything in his life.  And it wasn't as if they were on a real date, were they?  She accepted his hand.  "I'd be delighted, sir."

Mariah mentally thanked her Aunt Rosalind for all the dance lessons she'd bought her as a child as the band started playing a lively tune.  Silas wasn't a fabulous dancer, but he was so tall he only needed to take small steps and rotate a bit to give Mariah room to do her moves.  He was actually quite good to dance with, she thought.  A boy of slighter build would have made her feel large and ungainly, but next to Silas she appeared almost petite.

They danced and chatted easily for several dances before Silas suggested they stop for a drink.  Mariah seated herself at one of the empty tables while Silas went off to fetch their beverages.  She took the opportunity to look about the room to see who all was there and who with.  Amos Diggory had come with Ravenclaw Cecilia Lynch rather than Hufflepuff Mariah thought he'd been dating.  She'd have to ask Darby if she knew anything about it, but right now Darby was laughing as she danced with her date.  Off in a corner sat a gaggle of Slytherins, not one person from another House among them.  Typical, she thought as she tried not to notice that Severus was not with them.

She turned to look in the other direction and her eyes met those of Sirius Black.  He was staring at her intently, ignoring the chatter of his dance partner.  Mariah casually looked away, but couldn't help but look a few moments later to see if he was still watching her.  He was.

"Here you go, one gourmet tropical punch for Miss Grougher."  Mariah accepted her drink wordlessly, causing Silas to follow her gaze.  "Ah.  The irrepressible Mr. Black."

Silas sat down beside her.  "You know, Mariah…"

"What?"

"You're going to have to deal with him eventually."

Mariah groaned in frustration.  "I _have_ dealt with him, Si, more times than I can count.  But he just won't give up."

"I can't believe I'm going to suggest this, but maybe _you should give up."_

"What do you mean," asked Mariah.

Silas shrugged and sipped his drink before answering.  "Remember what we were talking about before, about people who want what they can't have?"  Mariah nodded. "Well, I think Black might be one of those people.  I mean, before he set his sights on you he was strictly a one-date kind of guy, in the same way that your friend Erin seems to get bored with her boyfriends.  Maybe, just maybe, if you give in and go out with him once he'll lose interest in you as well."

"Wow, Silas, you have such faith in my ability to keep a guy interested," Mariah quipped sarcastically.  "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"That's not what I mean and you know it.  If I thought Black had the brains to appreciate you for the great girl you are, I wouldn't suggest this.  I just think he would lose interest in any girl once he thinks they've fallen under his charms."

Mariah shook her head skeptically, "I don't know, Si, I'm not sure I like the suggestion that I go out with him to avoid going out with him!  It seems a little contrarian to me."

"Think of it this way," urged Silas.  "one of three things could happen.  Scenario one:  you go on one date, and he realizes that you really aren't suited.  Problem solved.  Scenario two:  you go on one date, and he is still interested.  You point out to him that you gave him a chance but you still aren't interested.  Then you tell him if he doesn't leave you alone, your guardian angel is going to hex him in his sleep.  That's me, by the way."

Mariah laughed, "I figured.  So what is scenario three?"

"Scenario Three:  You go on one date, he is still interested in you, and you suddenly discover that he's the man of your dreams.  Then you both live happily ever after."

Mariah choked on her drink.  "You have got to be kidding me."

"Yeah, I am," he joked.  "But you never know…crazier things have happened."

"Not to me, they haven't."  She looked back toward Sirius, who was now sitting with James Potter, Remus Lupin, and their dates.  He was still watching her with that creepy stare of his.  She sighed in defeat.  "Well, I give up.  I still think you're nutters for suggesting it, but I haven't got any better ideas.  I'll agree next time he asks, but you'd better be ready to back me up on the 'hex him in his sleep' part of the deal because I think we're going to need it."

"Well, now that that's settled, what do you say we forget about Sirius Black and get back to the important business of dancing?"


	17. Chapter 17

Would he just stop leering already, thought Mariah.  Since she'd agreed to go along with Silas' insane plan to dissuade Sirius Black by agreeing to go out with him, she'd been alternatively hesitant about the whole thing and anxious for him to just get on with pestering her again.  But they'd been back from Christmas break for over two weeks and he hadn't actually approached her yet.  She would have wondered if he'd lost interest for her on his own, were it not for his tendency to stare longingly from afar  He hadn't said anything to her though or come up to her, and she'd be damned if she was going to approach him!

She'd noticed Severus watching her as well, a couple of times.  His was a very different sort of watching.  While Sirius stared at her as if he was restraining himself from taking her into his arms, Severus sneered at her as if she were the most lowly creature imaginable.  It didn't make sense, his vitriolic hatred for her.  He'd gotten what he wanted, an "Outstanding" on their Herbology project and a successful hoodwinking of Sirius Black.  She'd remained pathetically ignorant of his plans until he himself chose to reveal them.  He might scorn her, certainly, but why did he hate her so badly?

Whatever.  She had other things to worry about now, such as passing History of Magic despite her tendency to sleep through class and of course, resolving the Sirius Black issue.  

She'd have to wait to pass History of Magic, thought Mariah as she saw Sirius Black finally walking toward her purposefully.

"Mariah, I'm sorry.  I've tried to stay away from you but I just can't do it any longer."  He stopped as if waiting for a response, but continued after receiving none.  "I don't know what it is about you, whether it's the adorable way you play with your curls or the disdainful way you look at me or the way you sometimes trip on the crooked stair right before the fourth floor but I just can't stop thinking about you.  Please, Mariah, have pity on me and come with me to Hogsmeade this weekend."

Mariah waited to make sure he was done with his rather original proclamation of … whatever it was felt… obsession, perhaps… before replying.  "Ok."

"I know you don't like me now, but perhaps if you'd just get to know me better you'd… did you just say 'Ok'?"  Black had obviously planned his rebuttal so carefully he'd neglected the possibility she'd accept upon first (well, more like hundredth) request.  

She gave a little half smile.  "I did.  But there are conditions," she added quickly as she saw Black's face break into a grin.  

"Anything," he promised.

"Very well then," she continued. "My conditions are these:  I am agreeing to one date only, so the two of us can get to know each other a little better and then to assess whether there is any possibility of fonder feelings growing between us.  Since you haven't been dissuaded thus far, I'm giving you this one chance to convince me that I would want to date you again.  Thus, if after our trip to Hogsmeade I still do not have a desire to pursue a relationship with you, you will agree to never bother me about it again.  And that includes staring at me from across the room, by the way, I hate that."

Black looked suitably chagrined at her words but prodded further.  "You sound convinced you'll still dislike me after our date.  How do I know you'll give me a fair chance?"

"I give you my word that I will.  I must admit I find it unlikely my mind will change, but I will keep an open mind and give you a fair chance.  But you have to promise that if I ask you to leave me alone afterwards that you will."

"I promise," the Gryffindor immediately vowed without a second thought.  "You won't regret this, Mariah."

I'm regretting it already, thought Mariah.  "I hope not, Sirius.  You should know that I have a friend in Gryffindor waiting to hex you in your sleep if you break your promise."

"By 'friend' I assume you mean Cloverleigh?  Don't think I haven't noticed the dirty looks he's been sending my way lately.  He's rather overprotective for a 'friend', isn't he?"

Mariah stared coolly at him.  "I don't think so.  We've known each other forever, it's quite natural that he'd look out for me."

"Whatever you say, Mariah, but I think his interest is a little more personal than that.'

"I seriously doubt that, considering he's the one who convinced me I should give you a chance," retorted Mariah.

"Did he?  I guess I'm mistaken then.  Anyway, I'll keep my promise; if I don't succeed in winning you over I'll leave you alone.  But I think you'll like me if you give me a chance."

"Enough," said Mariah, looking at the clock.  "I've got studying to do.  I'll meet you outside the Hufflepuff Common Room on Saturday at half past eleven.  Ok?"

"Ok.  And Mariah?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks."

******

Sirius floated down the hall.  Or at least he felt like he floated.  Mariah had finally agreed to go out with him!  He'd waited so long he almost couldn't believe it.  He wanted to shout it from the top of the Astronomy tower, but she feared he'd change her mind if he did.  So he decided to do the next best thing.  He headed down the stairs toward the dungeon.

"I knew I'd find you here," jeered Sirius.  "It's not like you have any friends to hang out with after classes."

Snape looked up from the cauldron he'd been stirring and rolled his eyes.  "Even you, Black, must recognize the idiocy of starting anything in the potions dungeon.  Professor Fellis would be most displeased were he to have to clean up bits of Gryffindor scum from the floor.

"Oh, I'm not here to _start anything_, as you put it, Snivellus.  I just wanted to share my big news with you."

"Dumbledore's come to his senses and expelled you, finally?  If so, please don't let us waste any time with insincere goodbyes."

"Hardly," sneered Sirius.  "No, I've come with really good news.  About Mariah."

Snape snorted.  "I'm afraid you've mistaken me for someone who cares."

"She's going with me to Hogsmeade this weekend."

Snape covered his mouth in mock shock.  "Oh, goodness me!  Well, you'd better hurry to the owlery if you want the Daily Prophet to receive the news in time.  Although you're better off owling the Quibbler, they're much more likely to be interested than I am."

"What, you don't care that your girlfriend has finally seen the light and likes _me_ now?"  Sirius prodded.  "I find that rather hard to believe."

"Why should I care?  Mariah served her purpose, I have no further use for her.  You're welcome to her."

"I am?" asked Sirius in amazement.

"If you _really_ want her," shrugged Snape.  "She's utterly useless in bed.  But then again, I doubt that you'd notice."

Sirius felt his stomach heave at the thought of his darling Mariah giving herself to this … filth.  He pushed the visual out of his mind and retorted, "More likely you didn't know what to do with her.  How dare you talk about her that way?"

"She's just a whore, no one worries about how they talk about a whore,"  Snape turned back to his cauldron.  "Now, if you have nothing more to say, I would like to return to my work."

Sirius wanted to wipe the smug look from the Slytherin's face.  He wanted to dump the ingredients of the cauldron all over him and hope that he melted away as a result.  He took a step forward, but then remembered that Mariah had always hated it when he taunted the greasy git.  He didn't want to give her an excuse to change her mind about Saturday's trip to Hogsmeade.  Thus, he exercised all the self-restraint he could find to turn and walk away.

He didn't see Snape set his cauldron aflame in anger a few moments later, or hear his muttered curse of "little Hufflepuff whore."  He spent the next few days alternating between excitement for his coming date and fighting the intolerable mental image of Mariah's body entwined with Snape's.  She couldn't have really slept with him, could she?

****

"Please, Darby, tell me I'm not crazy for agreeing to this madness."  The girls were gathered in the Hufflepuff girls' bathroom, preparing for their excursion to Hogsmeade later that morning.  

Erin stopped applying her lipstick.  "Insane?  I think you've finally come to your senses, dear.  That Sirius Black is a delectable bit of manhood; I wish I were in your shoes."

"What about Alexander?  I thought that was going well?" asked Bronwyn in confusion.

"Oh, _him_," groaned Erin.  "He's becoming quite a bore, actually.  He keeps talking about getting a job in Hogsmeade next year to be near me instead of going to apprentice at St. Mungo's like he'd been planning for years.  Can you believe that?  As if I would want a man to give up his career for me.  I'm afraid I'm going to have to have a little talk with him soon, before he actually goes through with it."

Mariah stifled a chuckle as she recalled her discussion with Silas at the Yule Ball.  Erin really did seem to only want someone until she got him.  "Erin, don't let me stop you from pursuing Sirius Black.  After today I don't plan to see him again."

"But Mariah, I thought you promised to give him a fair chance," protested Darby.

"Oh, I will," assured Mariah.  "But honestly, I doubt there's anything he can do to change my mind about him.  I think he's a conceited bully."

Darby pursed her lips.  "Perhaps.  But it seems he was right after all, wasn't he?"

Mariah closed her eyes.  She'd confided in Darby after Severus' confrontation, told her more than she'd actually told Silas.  Her friend had been surprised; she'd truly thought that Severus liked Mariah, but Darby's surprise quickly turned to hatred out of loyalty to Mariah.  The newfound animosity naturally increased Darby's sympathy for Sirius Black.

"Right about what?" asked Bronwyn.  Mariah hadn't confided in the other girls, since she'd never admitted her feelings for Severus to them in the first place.

"Just that some people deserve what they get," sighed Mariah.  She didn't want to think about Severus anymore.  It hurt too much.  She looked at the clock.  "I suppose we'd better hurry up.  The sooner I do this the sooner it will be over."

****

Sirius paced outside the Hufflepuff common room.  He'd arrived a half-hour early because he was too excited to sit still.  His friends had wanted to accompany him, but for some inexplicable reason he didn't want them there today.  He didn't want to share Mariah's company with anybody.  

The door opened – several Hufflepuffs came out.  Sirius skimmed their faces, but Mariah was not with them.  He sighed and continued to pace.  He looked at his watch for the umpteenth time since he'd arrived.  11:27.  In four more minutes, she'd be late.  He sat down on the floor, then decided that must look undignified and so stood and began pacing again.

The door opened once again – Sirius recognized Mariah's friend, Darcy or something was her name.  The girl caught his eye and came up to him, smiling at his apparent distress.  "She'll be out in a minute.  Relax."

"Thanks."  The girl smiled and walked away with her friends.

More pacing.  11:29.  He leaned against the wall, trying to appear casual and unconcerned.  11:31.  The door opened again, and finally, mercifully, Mariah emerged.  She was casually dressed, a blue jumper over an ankle length skirt.  Her hair was pulled back from her face but several stray ringlets poked out from the side of her head nonetheless.  On anyone else, Sirius would have found it quite ridiculous.  On Mariah he found it enchanting.

"Hi," she greeted him with something resembling a smile.  

Suddenly nervous, he smiled back.  "Hi.  You look very nice."

"Thank you."  She stood a moment as if waiting for something.  "Shall we go?"

"Sure.'  Sirius started to reach for her hand but then thought better of it.  No sense scaring her this soon into their date.  "Let's go."


	18. Chapter 18

They walked silently toward the entrance to the school where all gathered for their outing.  Sirius struggled to find something to say, but everything he could think of sounded inane to his mind's ears.  Luckily for him, Mariah broke the awkward silence herself.

"So."  Pause. "How was your week?"

"Pretty good."  Another pause.  "How was yours?"

"Fine."

They reached the group gathered at the front gates.  When Mariah turned to wave at some of her Hufflepuff friends, Sirius stole a glance over to where James and the rest of his friends were standing.  James offered him a double "thumbs up" while Peter began kissing the air.  Remus, of course, tried unsuccessfully to shush them.  Sirius gave them a glare for good measure.

Mariah turned in the direction of the Gryffindors, who thankfully ceased their ridiculous motions when her glance came their way.  "I must say I'm surprised that you didn't bring your friends with you this morning.  I almost never see you without them."

"Well, they are my best friends.  But today isn't for them.  The last thing I need when I'm trying to woo a girl is for James Potter to distract her."  Or to make teasing comments all afternoon, he thought.  "I too am glad that came alone."

"I promised you a fair chance, didn't I?"

Sirius nodded.  The group began to migrate down the path toward Hogsmeade and their conversation dimmed again.  What was wrong with him?  Sirius Black wasn't the nervous type.  Why did he find himself tongue-tied around this girl?  Desperate to avoid coming across as boring, he said the first thing he could think of.

"So, who do you think will win the Quidditch Cup this year?"

She gave him a funny look.  "Well, unless Ravenclaw manages a minor miracle, I'd say Gryffindor's probably got it clinched."

Only then did Sirius realize he'd probably just brought up a very touchy subject, the Hufflepuff Quidditch team being as unbelievably bad as it was.  He tried to assuage the situation.  "Oh, I don't know, there's still several months, plenty of time for Hufflepuff to make a comeback."

"Sirius, have you been watching the same games I have?  Because much as I love my House, our Quidditch team stinks."  Mariah looked rather annoyed.

There was no good answer to that.  If he disagreed, he'd be lying, but to agree would be unnecessarily cruel.  He decided then to take the only option available – he'd change the subject.

"Isn't Professor Binns the most boring teacher ever?"

Mariah nodded enthusiastically.  "Yes, I sleep through the majority of his classes."

"Me too."  Uh oh.  Not much more to say on that subject.  They lapsed into silence and continued walking.

Occasionally one or the other of them broke the uncomfortable quiet with a question or a comment, but rarely did the resulting conversation last more than three responses.  By the time they arrived in Hogsmeade, he knew that Mariah hailed from Brighton and had a younger sister, Clary, who would start Hogwarts in the fall.  He'd avoided revealing too much about his own unpleasant family situation but had admitted to being from London and having an older brother with whom he didn't get along.

"Shall we get a drink," asked Sirius as they walked down the main street.  "Do you like butterbeer?"

"Yes, that would be nice," replied Mariah, so they set off for The Three Broomsticks.  

Many of the students were of like mind, so most of the tables were already claimed when they arrived.  Sirius scanned the crowd, looking for an appropriately secluded table.  He stifled a smirk when he saw Snivellus sitting by himself in a far corner.  He nearly decided to lead Mariah toward a table near the Slytherin git when he realized that forcing a confrontation was hardly going to endear Mariah to him.  He glanced at her.  She'd also seen Snape, and was looking in his direction with a frown.

"There's a free table over there, let's grab it before anyone else comes in."  He maneuvered her away from Snape's direction toward a table near the window.  They sat down silently.  Mariah looked around the room, apparently surveying who was in attendance, before turning her attention back to him.

Again Sirius struggled to think of something to say.  "So, what kind of music do you listen to?"  Surely that would be a safe topic.

"I'm not too picky about it," she responded.  "Darby likes listening to muggle pop so that's what I listen to the most, I suppose."

"Cool," replied Sirius, though he was thinking that he knew nothing of muggle pop, least of all whether it was cool.  "My favorite band is Four Warlocks From Dublin."

"I don't know them, sorry."

They sat quietly for a few moments, then Madame Rosmerta appeared to take their order.  After they each ordered a butterbeer, Sirius tried again.  "What do you like to do, for fun I mean."

Mariah thought a moment.  "Nothing too exciting, I think.  Reading, dancing, things like that.  Oh, and growing things.  I've got several exotic flowers growing in my room."

"Cool," nodded Sirius again, thinking that Herbology was probably the second most boring subject they took after History of Magic.

"What about you?" prodded Mariah.

"I like Quidditch, of course, and swimming when the lake is warm enough.  I suppose you do a lot of swimming in the summer, living in Brighton."

"A little," she replied, "Silas and I go to the beach sometimes, but it stopped being as much fun when I started having to bring Clary along.  It's hard to have fun while you're trying to keep a little kid out of trouble."

"I'm sure,"  Sirius didn't have a younger sibling so he couldn't relate, but to him it would have been nice to have a younger sister to play with, assuming she was more like him and less like his brother Regulus.

Their drinks arrived and for a few moments they drank silently.  Mariah was staring a little off his left shoulder.  Sirius wanted to turn to see what she was looking at, but that would have been too obvious.  Instead, he racked his brain for yet another topic of conversation.

****

Mariah fought the urge to look at the clock.  She couldn't remember the last time she'd spent such a tedious afternoon outside of the classroom.  She had to give Sirius credit, he was being very polite and not at all leering or creepy but he was just . . . boring.  She almost felt sorry for his pitiful attempts to make conversation, but since he brought this whole thing on himself, she only had a little sympathy to spare.

She looked around the room as she sipped her butterbeer and smiled to herself as Silas walked in with a small crowd of older kids.  She'd give him hell later for suggesting she submit to this torture.  She watched as Silas approached a table a little ways behind Sirius.  An older Ravenclaw girl who Mariah didn't know was already sitting there.  Mariah watched as the girl smiled when Silas sat down across from her.  They were too far away for Mariah to hear their conversation but she could definitely see a lot of smiling going on.  

Did Silas have a new girlfriend?  If so, why didn't he tell her?  After all she herself had confided to him the least he could do is reciprocate.  Mariah took another swig of her butterbeer and nodded in response to whatever inane comment Sirius had just made.  She assessed the girl sitting so cozily with her friend.  She had very long, straight black hair and wore too much makeup, decided Mariah.  And way too skinny.  Silas would look ridiculous dancing with her, she'd probably snap if he squeezed too hard.

"Mariah?"  Sirius was trying to get her attention.  Damn, what was she thinking?

"Sorry, I was daydreaming.  What did you say?"

"I asked if you wanted me to get you another drink," repeated Sirius.

"Oh, sure, thanks."  Sirius rose to get the drinks, freeing Mariah to continue her assessment of the sight before her.  The girl threw her head back as she laughed at something Silas said.  I'm sure it wasn't_ that funny, she thought.  The girl is obviously trying to impress him.  Oh, if only she could hear what they were saying.  Now __Silas was laughing too.  Why hadn't he told her?  Mariah felt herself fill with annoyance at his betrayal.  She'd thought they had the kind of friendship where they could tell each other everything but apparently it only worked one way.  She glared over at her friend and his simpering idiot of a date.  Except that she probably wasn't an idiot, was she?  Few Ravenclaws were, after all.  Was this the girl who had gone with someone else to the Yule Ball, the girl who'd already found a date when Silas asked her?  Had she tired of her first choice already, or had the other boy tired of _her_?  Either way, she wasn't good enough for Silas.  Mariah vowed to ask one of her Ravenclaw friends what she knew of the girl later.  _

Sirius returned with the drinks.  Mariah forced herself to return her attention to her date.  She'd promised to give him a fair opportunity, and she was, but they obviously had nothing in common.  Hopefully he'd realize that soon.

The two fourth-years drank their next butterbeer over stilted conversation.  Sirius' attempts were valiant to be sure but Mariah's attention was very much elsewhere.  She knew she answered appropriately and when necessary but she fervently wished it would end soon.  She was only half aware of what she and Sirius were discussing, as she was far more focused on other goings on.

Silas stood, and held out his hand to his companion, who accepted it as she stood.  Mariah averted her head at the sight and found herself looking toward the far corner of the room where Severus still sat, alone.  He was reading a book, back turned to the room.  Oh yes, thought Mariah with a sneer, Severus was too good for the rest of them.  

As if he heard her thoughts, Severus put his book down and turned in her direction.  He returned her gaze with the most evil of looks.  What was his problem?  Part of her wanted nothing more to do with him, but the part of her that liked him wanted to understand what was wrong with her, to make him hate her so much.

"It's not working, is it?"

Mariah's head snapped back to her date.  "What?"

"You.  Me.  It's not working.  You don't even have to tell me."  Sirius stared intensely at her.  "It's pretty obvious that we really don't have anything to say to each other."

"I'm sorry, I did try, you know."  Now that she'd gotten what she wanted, she felt slightly chagrined at the downcast look on her companion's face.  

"I know.  It's kind of funny, actually.  I've spent the last five months or so completely obsessed with you, and now, in just one afternoon, I find I've been completely deluding myself this whole time."  He sighed.  "James was right, after all."

"James?"  Mariah was confused, and more than a little bit offended by his words.  "What did James have to do with this?"

"He thought that the only reason I wanted you was because Snivellus, I mean Snape, had you.  That I never would have liked you otherwise."

Mariah stared at him in shock.  It took several seconds to control her anger enough to respond. "How wonderful to know that I don't meet with the amazing James Potter's standards!.  Why was it so unthinkable that you might like me?  Am I that repulsive?"

"Of course not," soothed Sirius.  "I guess it was that you aren't my usual type is all."

"And what type would that be," sneered Mariah.  "Beautiful face, perfect body, am I getting close here?"

Sirius had the good sense to look embarrassed.  "Something like that.  Look, I really am sorry.  I certainly never meant to hurt you, and I really am sorry that things didn't work out between us."

"Well, that makes one of us," snapped Mariah.  She took a deep breath to calm herself.  "Look, maybe it would be best if we forgot any of this ever happened.  You go back to your life, and I'll go back to mine."

"All right," Sirius sighed.  He took her hand.  Mariah fought the urge to pull away.  "I really am sorry, Mariah."

She looked back at him, sensing that he genuinely was sorry.  It didn't excuse his being a total arse, but the thought counted for something.  "Apology accepted.  I'm sure you won't mind if I leave now."

"Will you be all right walking back yourself?"

"I'll be fine.  I'll just meet up with my friends."  She stood.  "Goodbye, Sirius."

"Goodbye, Mariah."

Mariah turned toward the door, her eyes resting on Severus, who was now standing by the door.  He'd been watching their little spat, they must have been quite loud.  His disdainful gaze had turned into a scornfully delighted one – he'd witnessed her humiliation and had apparently enjoyed it immensely.  She stormed over to him.

"I see Black has finally come to his senses and seen you for what you are.  I never would have credited him with so much sense."

"What is your problem?" she hissed.  "What did I ever do to you?"

Severus' lip curled as he looked down on her.  "You _exist_."

Mariah gasped.  "You are truly sick, Severus.  It's no wonder you don't have any friends."  She pushed past him and ran out of the pub.  She ran past the crowd of students standing outside, not noticing who she ignored.  She was overwhelmed with the rejection of the day.  She ran down the street and into the park.  She'd lied to Sirius, she had no intention of seeking out her friends.  Right now, she wanted to be alone.

She found a solitary tree and threw herself underneath it, curling into a ball and sobbing.  There must really be something wrong with her.  It had taken little more than an hour of her company for Sirius to lose interest; that must be a record, even for him.  And his friend had thought he was crazy for wanting her in the first place!  Even Severus Snape, arguably one of the least liked students at Hogwarts, was disgusted by her.  And Silas…

She opened her eyes, feeling a hand on her shoulder.  Speak of the devil.  Silas was kneeling beside her, looking concerned.  "What do you want," she snapped through her sobs as she pulled away.

He didn't let her go. "Easy, 'Riah, I just want to know what's wrong.  Why do I keep finding you this way?"

"Please don't feel obligated to bother yourself on my account," she sniffed.  "I'm sure your new girlfriend wouldn't appreciate it anyway."

"Girlfriend?"  Silas was incredulous.  "What girlfriend?"

"Don't deny it, Silas, I saw you together!  It doesn't matter, I mean, I don't know why I thought you'd tell me anyway, it's not like we've known each other all our lives or anything.  And why should I care whether you've got a girlfriend anyway…"

"Wait a minute," Silas grabbed her chin and turned her to face him.  "Mariah, what girlfriend?  I really don't know what you're talking about."

Mariah couldn't believe would still dare deny it.  "Silas, I saw you, at The Three Broomsticks, laughing and holding hands with some Ravenclaw not a half hour ago.  Are you trying to tell me I'm imagining things?"

"No," replied Silas slowly, "not imagining things, although definitely misinterpreting them.  Mariah, Delilah is not my girlfriend.  We're just friends."

"Just friends?" asked Mariah suspiciously.  "Do friends usually hold hands the way you two were?"

"Mariah, did you fail to notice that she walks with a rather sizeable?  Of course I helped her out of her seat.  I'd do the same for anyone.  She's just a friend, Mariah."  Silas' expression was earnest, and he seemed almost desperate that she believe him.

"Oh."  Mariah gulped, feeling rather chastised and silly.  "Ok, I'm rather embarrassed now."

"Were you crying because you thought I had a girlfriend," Silas asked incredulously.

"No.  Yes.  Well, only partially."  She broke down, telling him of the multiple rejections she'd received that day and how hurt she'd felt when she thought he'd gone and found a girlfriend without telling her.l

"So let's take a count, shall we?  Not only am I not good enough for Sirius Black or James Potter, I'm even rejected by Severus Snape, even though I'm probably the only friend he ever had," she sobbed.  "What is wrong with me?"

"They're just a bunch of idiots, 'Riah, you don't need them," soothed Silas as he held her, smoothing her hair.

"You're just saying that.  Please, Silas, I want to know.  What is so wrong with me?  Why can no one like me for who I am?"

"_I_ like you," answered Silas simply.

Mariah sighed, thinking he didn't understand her.  "That's not what I meant.  You don't count, Silas, you're practically my brother, you have to like me.  I meant really _like_ me."

"No," he replied forcefully, sitting her up to face him.  "I am _not practically your brother, I don't __have to like you but I do _like_ you.  Very much, actually."  He held her gaze as if waiting for her reply._

"You do?  Since when?"  Mariah's suspicion beat its way through the fluttering feeling that had appeared in her stomach with his words.  Where did that come from?

"Oh, since pretty much forever," he replied, wrapping her in his arms and pulling her close.  "Do you mind terribly?  Should I not have told you?"

Mariah tried to ignore the fluttering so she could think.  Silas liked her?  She'd never really considered that possibility, despite Sirius Black's assessment earlier that week.  Silas certainly was one of her closest friends.  But could he be more?  Maybe he wasn't all that good looking, but she didn't really care about that.  He had a nice smile, and was gentle and strong and a good dancer, and they certainly never suffered from awkwardness or a lack of things to talk about.  He did have that way of making her feel safe.  Was that enough?  Mariah remembered her reaction to Delilah, the Ravenclaw girl; was it all betrayal that he hadn't told her, or was she actually jealous?  Maybe she was, she really wasn't sure.  Silas was still watching her, waiting for her answer.  What the heck?  The possibility was certainly worth investigating.

She smiled back at him finally.  "No, I don't think I do mind, actually.  But I don't understand."  She pulled back a little.  "If you liked me, why did you tell me to go out with Sirius Black?  And you told me you'd wanted to go to the Yule Ball with someone else?"

"Questions, questions," he murmured. "I thought there was little chance you'd change your mind about Black, and I really did think that you'd both realize quickly that you weren't suited.  It was a gamble, true, but the odds were in my favor.  And as for the Yule Ball, you're the only one I wanted to go with."

"But you said…"

"Not what you think I said.  I said the girl I wanted to ask had gone and found her own date.  And you did, didn't you?"  Silas was holding her again and planting kisses in her hair.

Mariah was finding it hard to concentrate on her objections as she became more enveloped in his arms and warmed by his soft kisses.  New as the idea of a boyfriend-Silas was, she thought she might get used to it.  "Sneaky, weren't you."

"Yep.  Very sneaky.  So," more soft kisses. "what do you say to giving us a chance?  Same terms as you had with Black, if you decide you don't want to see me any more I'll leave you alone."

"That sounds reasonable," she agreed, turning her head up to his.  "But who will hex you in your sleep if you break your word?"

"I don't think it's going to come to that, do you?"  He leaned a little closer, their lips almost touching.

"Nah, probably not."  And then they were together.  "Mmm… definitely not."


	19. Epilogue

If Muggle romance novels are to be believed, a relationship based on friendship, comfort, and commonality is never successful; the young lady always leaves the steady young man for a wild man of dubious character and smoldering charms.  Our heroine, luckily, never read any Muggle romance novels.  With only the most mundane of stumbling blocks, and those encountered easily resolved, Mariah and Silas' relationship grew throughout their remaining years at Hogwarts.  When Silas graduated the next year, he gifted Mariah with a ring to symbolize the promise that when she too finished school, they would be wed.  Silas joined the family business and let a small flat in Brighton with one of his former classmates, saving up as much money as he could for his wedding and to buy a house for his bride-to-be.

Mariah tried not to be lonely her last two years of school, she had her friends and her frequent letters from Silas to keep her company.  Her skill in herbology continued to grow, and she spent the majority of her final year working on a special honors project with Professor Samling.  She wasn't a prefect, or Head Girl, that would have been too extraordinary for our ordinary Hufflepuff.  She was content with her calm and peaceful life and imagined the day that she and Silas would finally be wed.

Sirius Black eventually forgot about the Hufflepuff he was once obsessed with.  He spent his final years at Hogwarts chasing the prettiest girls he could find.  Silas was very amused to read in one of Mariah's letters that Sirius had asked Erin to the Yule Ball – he and Mariah made a bet with each other over which one of them would tire of the other first, but ironically enough they dated for the remainder of their time at Hogwarts.  When Sirius was arrested for murder and sent to Azkaban, Erin moved on, but never found anyone quite like him again.

As to what became of Severus Snape during his remaining time in school, no one really knows.  He was often seen in the potions dungeon, or by himself in the library, but almost never in the company of others.  No one was close enough to notice when the Dark Mark appeared on his left forearm, and none noticed him watching from afar as Mariah stepped on to the Hogwarts Express for the last time.  None heard the vow he spoke as he left her view.  "That little Hufflepuff whore will pay."

End Part One – Stay tuned for Part Two – "The Joys of Revenge"  Coming Soon.

Author's Note: 

Thank you all for reading this - this was my first fanfiction to be started, though the second to be completed. I hope you aren't too disappointed by the ending, from comments it seemed that the majority of people wanted to see her forgive Severus. Well, the story isn't over yet! I don't think Severus deserved to be forgiven at this point in the story - and the deep-seated anger that he has is essential for his development into a first-class baddie before his redemption. I enjoy delving into what made Severus the dysfunctional person we see in canon, several of my other stories have this same theme though they attack the problem in different ways. I think it is too easy to say that it was all MWPP and their treatment of him, there would have to be something a little more personal I think. And that's where this came from. 

The Joys of Revenge takes place twenty years after the events of the original story; all the characters are very much adults and thus there will be many adult themes in the story, and probably some lemons as well. As a result, the sequel will not be posted in at fanfiction.net, but at . My apologies to any younger folks reading, but it's necessary for the development of the story.

Again, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! 


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